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Gary’s Blog: The Luka Game

I’ve heard about this. I know many people do this every day. I’ve experienced it in the past, and I was hoping never to have to do it again. It’s this waking up really, really early in the morning. Like 5 AM early. And not just once, but it’s every day this week, til Friday. Chris Hart and I are doing “The Bobby Curran Show” this week. But getting up five days in a row at 5? Wow, I’ll just say I’ll be very happy Friday morning at 9 AM. My roommate saw me in the kitchen at 5 AM yesterday and asked if I was about to go to sleep. (That’s not much later than I usually go to sleep.) But I’m not gonna complain. That’s a promise I made to myself these last few months: don’t let little things get to me, in life and in sports.

And speaking of sports, these NBA playoffs are getting better and better. I give all the credit to the NBA and how the Bubble and everything in it has worked. The last of the many  memorable games was what I’ll call, The Luka Game. I don’t need to tell you that he did well on Sunday. But I do want to point out that the buzzer beater from 30 feet out was not a smart shot. It wasn’t. Dallas was down by 1, and I was thinking they’ll have Luka drive, try to get off a shot from around the basket, if he gets doubled, dish off to an open shooter or draw a foul. You know LA wasn’t gonna foul him. I know it worked out great, but if he missed and they lost, I wonder how much criticism Luka would have gotten. There were 3.7 seconds left when they inbounded the ball.

I’ve gotten to watch more games from start to finish this month than I usually do. And I’ve noticed a lot of things about the game. Basically, almost every team will space out and try to shoot a 3  pointer, or a guy with the ball will ignore his teammates, dribble a little, and drives to the basket to get a layup or get fouled. There are so many possessions where only 2-3 players will touch the ball. I know this isn’t new, but I think it’s increasing with the amount of 3s teams are taking. I see it in the 50s for many teams, that a lot of 3 pointers. I also notice that a lot of guys are shooting from way in back of the 3-point line. It used to be just Steph Curry. Now, from Trae Young to Damien Lillard to others, these guys are getting close to mid court. This part, I really enjoy.

My prediction that should come true but won’t: If the LA Paper Clips lose this series to Dallas, Doc Rivers should get fired.

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