Fortunes can change quickly in the NBA, where, by rule, something has to happen at least every 24 seconds.
Not even the reigning-champion Warriors, however, can break this fast, the landscape of opportunity around the league U-turning this week in a manner violent enough to cause spinal distress.
Just a few days ago, the overwhelming consensus was that the rest of the NBA was kidding itself, that Golden State was unstoppably in position to win all foreseeable titles.
Everyone else wasn’t only playing for second; they were playing to be swept into second. Outside of Oakland, championship dreams had the buoyancy of a deflated Spalding.