Nic Batum had fourteen points and seven assists at halftime. He was feeling it. Then he only got six more points and one more assist after both teams took fifteen-minute breaks to drink Gatorade and watch funny cat videos on YouTube. So what happened that caused Batum to drop off so hard? I’ll tell you what happened:
Halftime interview happened.
Getting interviewed by some dude/chick about what the team did well/what you did well/what the other team didn’t do well/what it’s like to play basketball on your birthday is definitely the least appealing aspect of being a professional baller. I didn’t stick around for the interview because they always make me cringe but you can bet that, by the end of it, Batum was not only tired of the interview itself but tired of his entire life.
If you felt that way going into halftime you definitely wouldn’t play well in the second half. Nobody would. Fifteen minutes contemplating your failed existence while your teammates are laughing at a cat trying to get into a too-small box would pretty much ruin any sort of “hotness” you were trying to carry from one half to the next.
If I were Batum I would deny any requests for interviews from here on out. He could be like a player version of Gregg Popovich and just make fun of the interviewer for the whole time until they eventually stop wanting to talk to him.