Game 2 between the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns turned out to be an NBA game that won't be forgotten about anytime soon; for many reasons. Deandre Ayton had the dunk off an inbounds pass with 0.7 seconds left to help leapfrog the Suns ahead of the Clippers for good to go up 2-0 in the series. That will be the main takeaway as it should be.
And while that is fine, the last half minute of the game continued to drag out for an eternity as Scott Foster and his officiating crew were constantly at the scorer's table reviewing one thing after another and then having to go back again to reset the lineups for the Clippers final heave with 0.7 seconds to go.
Rob Gronkowski is a voice of the people. The Buccaneers tight end was watching Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals and even he voiced his frustrations with how long the end of an NBA game can take with all the stoppages for replay.
The last 90 seconds of NBA basketball just takes way to long. Needs to change. It blows. The groove of the game gets lost with only 10 seconds passing on the clock lol
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) June 23, 2021
Taking 10 minutes for 1 second now lol. But what a play!
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) June 23, 2021
The last sequence of this particular NBA playoff game did take forever and it's not the first time this has happened this postseason and won't be the last. To put “forever” into perspective, chew on this number:
Here's something gross. I just went back and checked. The final two minutes of gameplay between the Clippers and Suns took THIRTY-THREE MINUTES in real time to complete.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) June 23, 2021
Over a half-hour to complete the last two minutes of an NBA game is absurd. It ruins any and all rhythm and nobody wants to sit and watch these officials comb over a replay for 10 minutes while both teams wait on their bench.
The game itself was incredible with a dramatic ending but Gronk is right, the NBA needs to figure out a way for the end of these games to not last so long because of replay stoppages.