It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
This is an adage as old as time, applicable in many capacities but often used in a sports setting and it seems to be true in basketball more than in any other sport. When you watch a game it can often seem like teams are trading runs with one side catching fire and the other going ice cold only to change roles every couple of minutes. Then, the final TV timeout hits and it seems like the real game begins and whoever can out-execute the other side comes out victorious.