We went for the burritos. We stayed for the NBA.

We had been in California for a week without visiting a restaurant serving Mexican food, and that was remedied by a visit to a little place named La Costa, in the Inland Empire city of Redlands.

We sat so that we had a good view of one of the two TVs hanging from the ceiling because a couple of us, anyway, were interested in the outcome of Game 4 of the Cleveland-Toronto series.

By the end of our meal, we were just two of several people watching the game, perhaps another indication of the rise of the NBA as one of America’s favorite sports.

We saw most of the second half as we went through the chips and salsa and then our main courses. The third quarter ended with Toronto up by nine, and it looked like the series was about to be tied at 2-2.

Then the Cavaliers couldn’t miss a shot. They wiped out the deficit in a bit over four minutes, and things got really interesting — because the Raptors refused to go away, which is what you would expect from a team with their spotty history in big games. (This is their first team to get past the second round of the playoffs.)

The lead changed hands seven times in the next two minutes, rather remarkably stuff, really, as the LeBron James and the Cavaliers kept up the pressure but the Raptors responded at the attacking end.

Cleveland blinked first. Their push had been fueled by shooting perfection (11-for-11 to open the quarter) and when they actually missed a shot, the Raptors pounced, breaking a 96-96 tie and outscoring the Cavs 9-3 over the final two-plus minutes to win.

By then, our waitress was watching the game. So was the chef, as the evening traffic of patrons slowed, and a bus boy. The table next to ours was watching the game, too.

Everyone had an opinion. Most seemed glad that Toronto won, perhaps not because of any affinity for Canada’s Team but because an Eastern Conference finals tied at 2-2 looked like more fun.

Could also be the American notion of always pulling for the underdog, and it always is hard to see LeBron James’s teams as anything but overdogs.

Kyle Lawry and DeMar DeRozan each scored 30-plus for Toronto, and the viewers at La Costa seemed to approve.

Conversation then turned to the Western finals, between Golden State and Oklahoma City, and the Warriors’ status as America’s Team may have taken a hit when their Draymond Green kicked OKC’s Steven Adams in the groin in Game 3.

“He definitely meant to do it.”

“That was terrible.”

“He should have been suspended.”

“That was no accident.”

“He’s a dirty player.”

Maybe the employees at La Costa, and the customers, are fans because the games are always on, or maybe the NBA has developed such wide appeal that old and young, Anglo and Latino all watch the big games and all have an opinion.

We almost forgot for the moment, as James strolled off the court, defeated … but dinner was really good. Two of us had ceviche. The other two had enormous burritos. I think. We were watching the game pretty closely.