Game 46

​CHI 93               LAC 120

How much does tip-off
Really matter?

This game is long--

Four quarters.

Forty-eight minutes
Not counting stoppages.

But it sure doesn’t feel long--

Not from here,
Where most of us sit
And watch.

This is not
Tic-tac-toe.

That game goes fast,
And the first move matters
Like mad.

Basketball
is a game of momentum--
Of runs and adjustments.

Where winning the tip
Gets you the ball
To start the fourth--

And that could matter a lot.

But first,
The game has to start.

The ref scrubs into the circle--
Delivering the ball
Like a surgeon.

Cold and
​Sterile.

And I haven’t checked the numbers--
Not yet.

But I have spent time
With lots of different players
From lots of different teams--

And the ones who start the game with the ball,
And who know they’ll get it back

Play with more confidence
And usually do a little better.
​
Tip-off is the starting gun
In a game played with bullets.