The sports world has found several ways to pay tribute to the victims of the tragic explosions at Monday's Boston Marathon. On Tuesday, the normally Boston-averse New York Yankees honored the entire city by playing Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," the rival Red Sox's adopted anthem. On Wednesday, in the Boston Bruins' first game since the attacks, the entire home crowd joined in on the national anthem for what will likely go down as one of the most positive and memorable reactions to these horrific events.

Due to the cancellation of Tuesday's home game against the Indiana Pacers, the NBA's Boston Celtics will not play a game at the TD Garden until next week in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks. Yet, for Wednesday night's regular season finale, their opponents ensured that the occasion would not go unnoticed. Before tipoff at the Air Canada Centre, the Toronto Raptors and their fans observed a moment of silence and gave their support for the city with the slogan "Tonight, we are all Boston fans." Then, as the Celtics starting lineup was introduced, they played "Sweet Caroline" as a small attempt to help the visitors feel at home.

You can watch a video of the ceremony above (via Beyond the Buzzer). After the jump, see how the Celtics are honoring the victims of the bombings for Wednesday's game.

Michael Jordan regrets ordering pepperoni during the Flu Game (Dick Raphael/ Getty).

Of the many stories and events that add up to Michael Jordan's legend, few loom as large as the "Flu Game." In Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, with his Chicago Bulls facing a 3-2 deficit against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, Jordan scored 38 points despite playing with extreme nausea and discomfort. The Bulls took the game 90-88, the series returned to Chicago, and Jordan ensured that fans would discuss his will to win for decades.

After nearly 16 years, it's still unclear if Jordan suffered from food poisoning or a stomach virus that night. Yet Tim Grover, Jordan's longtime trainer, is pretty sure that MJ was poisoned. From an interview with Henry Abbott for TrueHoop:

Wednesday marks the final night of the NBA regular season, which means the basketball world is about to get very serious. The loose 82-game schedule is about to give way to the rigid gauntlet of the postseason, a time when men prove their worth and etch their names into the annals of the sport. The time for mirth is over.

It's all a bit much, really, especially in a league that many fans are drawn to specifically because its players don't always take themselves so seriously. We must thank Memphis Grizzlies wing Tony Allen, then, for puncturing the bubble of self-seriousness so thoroughly on Tuesday night.

Taking the lead from players such as Shane Battier of the Miami Heat, Allen held a karaoke event to benefit the Juvenile Intervention and Faith-based Follow-up, an organization that works with youth already in the justice system to reduce recidivism and ensure that these kids follow a more productive life path. Unlike Battier, Allen appears to have little interest in singing accurate lyrics or carrying a tune. His performance of Montell Jordan's 1995 hit "This Is How We Do It" proves as much (via Chris Vernon).

Kyrie Irving appreciates the fans before Monday night's game (David Liam Kyle/ Getty).

For most teams, the last few days of the NBA schedule are relatively meaningless, playoff participants and lottery teams alike locked into their fates. Everyone rests key players, the competition on the floor only matters so much, and the tickets are still full price. It's enough to make a fan go crazy.

To help quell any uprisings, teams typically designate the final home game as Fan Appreciation Night, a time to give attending patrons gifts and ensure them that their loyalty to the team is valued. It doesn't really make up for a 25-win season, but it's a start.

On Monday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers held their Fan Appreciation Night for their final home game, a contest against a Miami Heat team resting the vast majority of their important players. The game ended in the final seconds, with Heat point guard Norris Cole stripping Cavs All-Star Kyrie Irving on the final possession to lock down a 96-95 win.

Irving was not pleased with the result, so he went straight to the locker room after the game. Unfortunately, that means he shirked his Fan Appreciation responsibilities. From Jason Lloyd for the Akron Beacon Journal (via SLAM):

J.R. Smith displays his palms, the only bare skin on his body (Jim McIsaac/ Getty).

New York Knicks reserve guard and Sixth Man of the Year candidate J.R. Smith is well known for having a lot of tattoos. It's his trademark, along with taking ill-advised shots and posting inappropriate comments and photos to social media. Many NBA players are serious about their body art, but Smith is near the top of the list.

So it's probably worth taking him seriously when he makes a promise about a tattoo. If the Knicks win the title this year, J.R. says he'll get a new one to honor the accomplishment. From Marc Berman for the New York Post (via SLAM):

There are certain events that render sports largely irrelevant, to the point where simply playing games seems like an ill-fitting response to tragedy. The explosions, deaths, and injuries at Monday's Boston Marathon undoubtedly qualify. The city and its sports fans are focused on more important matters at this moment.

The NBA has recognized this situation and acted accordingly. As announced on Monday night, the league has canceled Tuesday night's game between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers at TD Garden. Here's the full text:

The National Basketball Association game scheduled for Tuesday, April 16 between the Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics at TD Garden has been canceled. The game will not be rescheduled.

The NBA expresses its sympathy to all those affected by the tragedy in Boston earlier today.

This news follows the NHL's postponement of Monday night's Boston Bruins home game against the Ottawa Senators, also to be held at TD Garden.

As the Los Angeles Lakers strive to grab the West's final spot in the postseason, longtime franchise icon Kobe Bryant has taken on an even greater burden. In two games earlier this week, Kobe did to do whatever necessary to take his team to victory, dominating the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night and scoring a season-high 47 points against the Portland Trail Blazers a day later. Like he's done many times during his career, the fiercely competitive Bryant did whatever he felt he needed to do to win.

On Friday night against the Golden State Warriors, Bryant pushed himself hard enough to suffer what appears to be the most serious injury of his career. With 42 seconds left in the game and the Lakers up 117-116, Bryant was fouled by Warriors wing Klay Thompson on a drive to the basket. He returned to the game to shoot his two free throws, but then walked very slowly into the locker room to receive treatment. You can watch the video above (via @cjzero).

[Related photos: Kobe's tough night on the court]

After the game, the Lakers announced that the injury looks to be quite serious:

Lakers PR team saying Kobe Bryant suffered a probable torn Achilles in tonight’s game. He’ll have a MRI tomorrow to confirm.

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 13, 2013

Everyone involved with the team, including Bryant, is acting in public as if the injury is a torn Achilles tendon. Kobe is well known for playing while hobbled, but it's impossible to play through an Achilles tear, which typically requires a year of rehabilitation. If anything, it's a wonder that Bryant was even able to shoot his free throws and walk around immediately after the injury. Improbably, the tear followed two more lower-body injuries suffered earlier in the game.

Marv Albert discusses the Raptor's mother issues (Garrett Ellwood/ Getty).

TNT announcer Marv Albert is a international basketball treasure, the man and voice who has carried several generations of fans through some of the most memorable moments in NBA history. He's a part of our lives, someone we can depend on for guidance and knowledge. That's an emotional relationship, and it's not shocking to feel that someone could feel a special connection to Albert even if they'd never met.

Aside from pure goofiness, this mindset informs a recent "Shouts & Murmurs" piece in the venerable New Yorker magazine from actor and occasional writer Jesse Eisenberg, best known for playing Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network." Eisenberg presents a dialogue between Albert as a therapist and a patient with fairly typical problems. The joke is that Albert only responds with exclamations from his basketball broadcasts.

The article is fairly short and worth a few laughs for anyone familiar with Albert's work. But it pales in comparison to the recently recorded reading of the