In the months before, the frailty of the NBA season seems more abstract, each game representing an equal 1.2% slice of the season. When you’re in the grind of it, the tomorrows eclipse any finality.
Until it gets here — and then all you’re left with are ‘if onlys.’
If only the Lakers had been sharper out of the in-season tournament. If only it hadn’t taken so long to find their shooting stroke. If only they’d held tighter onto the rope against Brooklyn and Sacramento.
If only they’d been a little luckier, a little better.