Is it just in my imagination or have big comebacks become normal lately?
Recently I really saw a lot of them. Sometimes a team is winning the 1st quarter by like 20 something points and then totally collapse in the rest of the game.
Or a team is going into the forth by 16-20 something points just to get ousted something like 42:16 in the last quarter.
Is the the increased shooting of the 3, or is the game faster recently?
Maybe it's also that players "basketball IQ" has become worse. I mean if you milk the clock a lot it's impossible to lose 20 point leads in like 6 minutes. Just recently we saw exactly that with the Clippers vs the Lakers. Leading by 22 with 11min to go and a tie game with like 4 or 5min left. It's crazy!
Mostly bad defense when they have the big lead. They celebrate way too early not thinking about their opponent taking advantage of that lack of defense and the pressure they can bring to come back to the game.
That's what happened with the Raptors, they were pressed by the Nuggets and they made sure those stops would be worth it by using either Jokic or Murray in offense. Heck, Jokic even got a block and that's not normal.
But I saw some coaches too that won't let their stars rest whenever they are on the big lead. They make it sure first using whatever calculation they have before they sit them down on a blowout game.
How about the Clippers leading by 20 points early but then lost to the Wolves at Crypto arena? They started how in the first half, rushing and leading as high as 20 points. But the Wolves didn't give up, ANT started to cook in the 3rd quarter. And him and the veteran Mike Conley and Alexander-Walker are hitting their 3 point shot. On the other hand, the Clippers are struggling and because of their great defense. There were moments wherein Paul George getting one on one against ANT but the young fellow has good defense and stole the ball from George. So it's almost a 20 point swing in this game as the Wolves won by 18 points.
It's because Kawhi Leonard went out after the first quarter and the camera saw him leaving the arena in streetwear. It's either he will go to the hospital or something came up that he cannot miss. Maybe we will hear the reports later.
I realized that when I saw my props for Kawhi not moving anymore, he didn't enter the whole 2nd quarter and that's when they looked for him. I think it was Reggie Miller who first realized that he ain't playing anymore.
Clippers could've won this one if they have him back.