At the Times, Rob Mahoney examines the so-called hot-hand fallacy after Nick Young’s 14-of-22 night. I struggle with it in terms of basketball. I believe, obviously, that there’s no such thing as a hot hand in a dice game. And I could be convinced that there’s no such thing as a hot hand in free-throw shooting. But given all the variables to field-goal shooting in a competitive basketball game — as Mahoney details — it feels like something that’s impossible to figure one way or the other.

Also, though I recognize it’s easy to be fooled by randomness, it’s really difficult to explain away the way my Georgetown Hoyas have been shooting lately as a function of random fluctuation.