Amir Johnson was sitting at his locker in a pair of compression shorts when he nodded up at a television glowing in silence above his head. On the screen, the Timberwolves and Nuggets were locked in a close-quarters battle in what was essentially the season’s first playoff game, the winner getting the Western Conference’s eighth and final postseason berth, the loser getting a jump start on summer vacation.
As it happened, Johnson was in the midst of a conversation with a locker room visitor about the nature of playoff basketball — specifically, the tendency of the game to slow in tempo, the end lines closing like a clamp on each other as teams trade half-court possessions.