Unsportsmanlike Conduct Helps LA Beat Denver

There are many distasteful things about the NBA these days, but the one that is getting increasing amounts of attention is the "play" to foul intentionally at the end of a game if you are up by 3 in the final seconds to prevent teams from having an opportunity to tie the game with a three-pointer. By sending your opponent to the line, you force them to get an offensive rebound off a FT to have a chance to prolong the game. I'm all for strategy, but I think the premise that you can intentionally benefit by committing an intentional foul - obviously it's not going to be called intentional, though - is ludicrous.

If the defense commits a foul intentionally, why isn't an intentional foul called? If it wasn't intentional, why else would Derek Fisher be fouling J.R. Smith at half court? I didn't see that happening earlier in the game.

Taking the foul is an unsportsmanlike attempt to manipulate the rules just because there isn't a provision in the rules that doesn't prevent it. It's along the same lines as the Hack-a-<* Insert name of bad FT shooter here *> strategy. In an ideal world, you wouldn't have to write in rules to prevent these types of actions. However, as long as someone is trying to gain an advantage by going by the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law, there will be a need to more specifically define the rules to address the perpetrators.