We have all seen crazy NBA games where a team has been up more than 10 points in the fourth quarter only to see victory slip out of grasp.
This can make for some exciting basketball but it also leads to some intense conversation about missed chances and “blown” leads.
Well, one NBA analyst is tired of hearing about it.
NBA fans and media should stop talking about teams “blowing” big leads. Teams coming back from 15-20+ point leads happens regularly in today’s NBA. The volume of 3’s and the pace of the game are the main reasons. Leads are not safe and it is truly a 48 minute game.
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) November 6, 2022
Former NBA coach and current TV commentator Stan Van Gundy said that the conversation around these sorts of games should be reframed.
“NBA fans and media should stop talking about team ‘blowing’ big leads,” Van Gundy said on Twitter.
He continued: “Teams coming back from 15-20+ point leads happens regularly in today’s NBA. The volume of 3’s and the pace of the game are the main reasons. Leads are not safe and it is truly a 48 minute game.”
He is right: the NBA has changed in some huge ways and it has made the league more competitive, more exciting, and, sometimes, more frustrating.
The Current NBA
Watching a game get close after one team seems to be pulling away can be a lot of fun – unless your team is the one that’s losing the lead of course.
But this loss isn’t just a result of one team falling apart and giving up their victory, it’s also a result of the other team fighting hard and never giving up.
The way that players run the court has changed a lot, with an influx of more three-pointers and a game that is generally faster, with more fast breaks and increased speed even from the biggest guys in the league.
This results in wild games that can sometimes be incredibly close in just seconds.
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