It was the ultimate dual showdown in L.A. Wednesday night. The No. 1-ranked Lakers took on the Spurs for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at Staples Center, while across the street, David Cook took on David Archuleta in the No. 1-rated TV show American Idol's season finale at Nokia Center.
One person who wouldn't have made the cut on Idol was the National Anthem singer at the game, who forgot some of the words to that sacred song—which happened to be on the Jumbo-tron; particularly helpful for those who don't know the tune.
In addition to being a traffic nightmare, both events saw the enventual winners returning from considerable deficits. In the biggest playoff comeback since 2002, the Lakers rallied from 20-points down to beat the Spurs 89-85. While across the street on Idol, 25-year-old Missouri bartender David Cook beat 17-year-old front-runner David Archuleta with 56% of the vote in the much-anticipated finale.
For some of the Hollywood set, the Lakers game was apparently the better of the two spectacles. Teenage heartthrobs the Jonas Brothers performed at Idol and then ditched the rest of the show before the winner was announced to meet up with Disney star sweethearts Selena Gomez and Brenda Song for fourth-row seats at the game.
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