With four playoff games in four days, Staples Center is 'center of the sports world'
FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAYThere have been crazier weekends at Staples Center and certainly busier ones for the 15-year-old arena. Staging four games - two NHL and two NBA - in four days isn't a big deal anymore.
Staples Center long ago gained the reputation of being able to handle multiple events at once. It takes only 2 hours, 15 minutes to convert an ice rink to a basketball court and vice versa.
But the Los Angeles arena has the honor of being the only facility in North America with two teams still in the playoffs - the Kings and Clippers. Both teams returned to Staples Center for home-court/home-ice advantage beginning with Thursday's Game 3 of the Kings-Ducks second-round series.
The Clippers will take the court at 7:30 p.m. Friday for Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series against Oklahoma City.
'We would love to think that Staples Center provides the teams with a huge home-court advantage,' said Michael Roth, vice president of communications for Staples Center. 'It shows that our anchor tenants are outstanding - or maybe it's the water in the drinking fountains and showers.'
Immediately following the Kings' game, the operations crew will begin dismantling the rink's glass, cover the ice, take down the team's signage and clean and prepare the arena for a basketball game.
The crew will then begin to piece together the Clippers' floor, cover the Lakers ' championship banners with oversize pictures of the players and hang the red, white and blue banners around the court. The court will be ready for Friday night's game.
The crew then reverses the work order for Saturday's 6:30 p.m. hockey game, and will start on building the hardwood shortly after the final buzzer.
Staples General Manager Lee Zeidman said it was going to be an incredible four days for Staples Center. He estimated that more than 70,000 hockey and basketball fans will attend the games and Fan Fests that will be held at L.A. Live before each contest.
There will be interactive games, giveaways and a beer garden outside Staples Center.
'Hosting four playoff games in four days is something we have all been waiting for since the Kings and Clippers made it to the postseason,' Zeidman said in a statement. 'We are excited to be the center of the sports world this weekend.'
Contact the writer: jcarr@ocregister.com
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