Sunday Funday in the NBA

I don’t always watch the NBA… but when I do, I prefer days like Sunday.

After the epic Cavaliers-Rockets finish, the Warriors showed that it’s not how you start but how you finish, tying Memphis for the largest comeback of the 2014-15 season. But the Rockets’ win was a gutty one, a team playing without Dwight Howard for the foreseeable future. The game had it all, and even when Houston went up double-digits, you could tell this one was going to be decided at the gun. As it turns out, it was the overtime gun, as regulation was not enough for these two heavyweights.

Later that night, in virtually the exact opposite spirit of everything Boston sports, the Celtics built a 26-point lead on the Western leaders, Golden State, only to slowly bleed out and squander it at the very end (a tip of the cap to NBA TV analyst Rick Fox for calling the Warriors comeback when they were way behind). That could very well be the difference in the Celtics squeaking into the Eastern Conference playoff dance.

The Thunder and Lakers played an entertaining game despite the absence of Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant, perhaps even more so than the game that christened the day, the Blake Griffin-less Clippers and Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler-less Bulls. By day’s end, I, like many fans, had endured a thrilling if not draining Sunday. Not every one is like that in the NBA, but the MVP power of James Harden, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry carried the day.