I cannot get enough of this

It is January and these are supposed to be dog days, the ages it takes between Christmas and the All-Star break, I could not be having more fun.

Day after day, night after night, I watch endless hours of NBA basketball and NBA highlights while keeping with NBA Twitter and I’m rolling, people, this is how it was meant to be.

Are you with me?

LOT OF BASKETBALL LEFT

Down 20 in the first half? Teams used to try and halve it by halftime, even this was a reach. Now you try to tie it.

There are blowouts, but nothing is ever out of hand. Use seven possessions to trade four threes and two twos for one two and one three and a free throw and that 20 point lead is down to 10.

Superstars like DeVonte’ Graham, Malik Monk, Rui Hachimura, Immanuel Quickly, Alec Burks, Mike Muscala, Austin Rivers or Tre or Tyus Jones can easily take the podium for a first half. Hell, T.J. McConnell scored 25 in a first half on Monday:

NBA @NBA

TJ McConnell dropped a career-high 25 points in the FIRST HALF in Milwaukee 👀 Pacers lead 76-65 at the break. 📲 app.link.nba.com/e/watch_now

There are more chances than ever for what we’re all after, a close game with five minutes to go.

ANNOUNCERS

On game days and nights, an average announcer and sideline reporter write more words per day than a typical nine-hour NBA blogger from the early 2010s.

Find any sideline reporter between plays, they’re either logging longhand into spiral notebooks or discussing with a producer how to use any one of the dozens of strong quotes collected from the coaching staff prior to and during the game. Announcers cull just as many statistical or anecdotal goodies before a broadcast and have space to use, maybe, one of them, because the best announcers get out of the way.

I can’t say every NBA announcer worked their dream job twenty years ago, but it has been the case for at least a decade. It’s 50 bucks for League Pass for the rest of the year, tell a friend (to lend you 50 bucks).

FLATTENED ODDS