Fouling up 3 is smart and it is bulls--t

Free throws remains a killjoy. This is an entertainment product. There must be a better way.

Good morning. Let's basketball.

The only thing wrong with Saturday's epic San Antonio Spurs win over the Oklahoma City Thunder was a cursed endgame marred by incessant free throws. There were 14 free throws in the final 20 seconds of play. Those 20 seconds took 13 real minutes to conclude. That's simply untenable.

The Thunder, trailing, were fouling to play catch-up, which is normal behavior every team does. The Spurs, who consistently hit their free throws, were fouling up three, which is really smart if you're confident in your ability to keep hitting free throws. It's just such a drag on the game. Only some teams foul up three, and many teams do it only with just a couple seconds left. San Antonio started with eight seconds left.

You could get rid of all of this with the Elam ending, where a target score is set at some point – either the beginning of the fourth, or midway through the fourth, based on some sum being added to the leading team's score at the time. But the Elam ending has some other unintended consequences, like eliminating the chance for overtime and probably negatively impacting minutes played for non-starters. It's a great idea that I'm not sure is the best path for the NBA. I mean with this all due respect to the leagues using it now, but: it's a little gimmicky.