Q: Hi, Ira. I waited anxiously for the NBA last-two-minute report to see what they said about the five-second call. I totally disagree with the five-second call on Pelle Larsson. Karl Lane definitely starts counting before Larsson even has control of the ball when handed to him by Lane. Talk about a coverup, or blindly defending your own. – David, Fort Lauderdale.
A: First, I have been and remain of the thought that in a 48-minute game with upwards of 100 possessions per team, no single call beats you other than a final call of a game. So there has to be perspective that Orlando was in control of far, far, far more possessions of that game than any game official. That said, no two people count at the same speed, so one would think in this age of replay, VAR and other auto-officiating mechanisms, there would be a better way. But based on what happened a night later in baseball, at least the Heat didn’t lose on a pitch out of the strike zone.
Q: Some fans act like rebounding is the only factor that matters in a basketball game. There are a few facts that make what in my opinion add up to an absurd recent “Ask Ira” question about the Magic’s 49-32 rebounding advantage: signing some scrub to a 10-day contract and thinking throwing him out there would make for a better five-man squad. There are already 15 players on the roster with full-time contracts. Look, for whatever reason(s), Orlando just has Miami’s number and all of the easy drives to the basket were a serious problem. Looking at the results of one game (especially when it’s the last game) instead of the overall trend, well of course a bad idea. The Heat have the most total rebounds in the league this year. They are second in defensive rebounding percentage, and 12th offensively. And Erik Spoelstra started Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware together, that’s as big as he possibly could have gone, and guess what? Heat in an 18-8 hole to start the game. – Morgan, New Orleans.
A: All reasonable and accurate. But also something that has been mentioned here for a while, including the night Bam Adebayo went for 83 points, the night Kel’el Ware was out. The point being that if Bam or Kel’el were to miss a game and the other was to get hurt or in foul trouble, there is precious little size in terms of depth on this roster, particularly with Nikola Jovic out. So, no, not a knee-jerk reaction, but basically the awareness that there is nothing wrong with insurance. (And now they’re too late to Omer Yurtseven, who was signed by the Warriors!)
Q: Ira, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored his twentieth point to keep his streak alive with under two minutes left in the game and up double digits. Does he get an asterisk for his streak now? – Rich, Plantation.
A: Of course. All games come with asterisks unless they involve the Knicks, Celtics or Lakers. That is the minimum knowledge requirement for all NBA followers.