Things in sports that annoy me: The last minute of basketball games

And now for our 23rd commercial break . . .

Honestly? I think I’d die without TiVo. Because that last minute of tonight’s Lakers game would have freakin’ killed me.

Here’s the thing: I know it makes sense to foul and call timeouts and all that crap. But do the networks have to go to commercials every friggin time? Seriously. Talk about the game a little. Show Jack in the crowd. Better yet, show the Laker Girls. Or — heck, it’s L.A. — any girl in the audience.

But not commercials every time.

If you had a transcript of the game at the 1:00 mark, it’d go something like this:

“Anthony gets the rebound for the Nuggets and a quick timeout is called. Lakers up by eight.”

(Coors Commercial)

“We’re back here at Staples Center. Billups with the rebound — and it’s stolen by Fisher! Who’s immediately fouled. We’ll be back.”

(Ford truck commercial)

“Fisher at the line. He makes the first basket, and now Denver is calling a timeout. We’ll be back.”

(Viagra commercial)

“Back to the game. But first, don’t forget to catch ‘Desperate Pool Cleaners’ on TNT tomorrow at nine. In fact, check out this commercial for it.”

You get the idea. One minute really lasts like 45, and 95 percent is crappy commercials.

But, of course, I sit back and smirk. Because TiVo is the great equalizer. The greatest invention since the steam engine.

Photo: Getty Images