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How the Thunder stole Game 5 from the Clippers

Mark D. Smith / USA TODAY Sport

When the Clippers made their stunning, season-saving rally against the Thunder in Game 4 of their West semifinal on Sunday, we had something to pinpoint. The Clips went with an unorthodox defensive look - Paul guarding Durant - and the Thunder had no answer. L.A. roared back and avoided facing elimination in Oklahoma City two nights later.

On Tuesday, it was OKC's turn to rally and avoid the brink of elimination, and the Clippers' turn to collapse. Only in Game 5, rather than a game plan or strategy being the catalyst, there was about 40 seconds of unforgettable and sometimes unfathomable basketball that buoyed the Thunder and sunk the Clippers.

Before we get to those 40 seconds of madness, though, the minutes that precluded them must be explained.

The Clippers held a 101-88 lead with four minutes remaining, but between some clock milking and subsequently poor possessions of their own and some Thunder baskets, they found themselves up just four points (101-97) with 1:24 remaining. Nonetheless, Serge Ibaka fouled Blake Griffin, who hit one free throw, and an offensive rebound on a missed Griffin free throw (By Glen Davis, of all people) led to what looked like a Chris Paul dagger that put the Clips up seven points (104-97) with 49 seconds to go.

It looked as though Paul and the Clippers had weathered OKC's storm, and they were less than a minute away from going home with a chance to book the franchise's first Conference Finals trip on Thursday. What followed instead was utter basketball chaos.

First, Durant hits a quick three out of a Thunder timeout:

GIF courtesy of NBA.com's boxscore video

With the score now 104-100 for the Clippers, a Jamal Crawford miss quickly turns into a Russell Westbrook rebound and Durant fast break bucket:

GIF courtesy of NBA.com boxscore video

And just like that, we've got a two-point game. But there are only 17 seconds left on the clock, and all the Clippers have to do is inbound the ball to Paul, who should hold it, get fouled and head to the free throw line to seal the game.

Just one problem...

GIF courtesy NBA.com boxscore video

Paul assumes Westbrook is going to foul him immediately, only instead of holding the ball until being fouled or at worst trying to get it across the timeline via a pass (Crawford looks open), CP3 looks as though he's trying to draw a three-point foul. The Clippers were already in the bonus, so any Thunder foul would have been two free throws at that point anyway, regardless of whether it was a shooting foul or not. Why Paul felt he needed to try drawing three shots in such a situation - if that was even his intention with the awkward leap - is beyond me.

In any event, Westbrook does a great job of stripping the ball, which ends up in Reggie Jackson's hands, and this is where things really get crazy:

GIF courtesy NBA.com boxscore video

The first thing that sticks out in the play above is that Jackson makes the terrible decision to look-off Durant and Westbrook on a 3-on-1 fast break. Nevertheless, he takes it to the hole and is clearly fouled by Matt Barnes, so it should be Thunder ball, if not free throws. But the refs don't call a foul, instead calling it out of bounds off Barnes, meaning it should be Thunder ball anyway. The problem with that call is that if there's no foul on Barnes, then the ball clearly went off of Jackson last, and therefore should be Clippers ball once the officials have a chance to review the play.

To everyone's surprise and Doc Rivers' dismay, the officials rule that there isn't enough evidence on the replay to overturn their initial call of Thunder ball and so the ball stays with OKC.

It should be noted that the rules stipulate if the ball was caused to go out of bounds off of Jackson because Barnes hit his hand, then Jackson's team should still retain possession, according to Rule 8, Section II, C. So in theory, Thunder ball was actually the right call, but the officials didn't use that reasoning, and instead went with the ruling that they couldn't say for sure the ball went off Jackson, which seems ridiculous. The excuse that they only had two replay angles, or that they didn't have the same replay angle as the rest of us, was called "a bunch of crap" by a livid Rivers in his postgame presser, and it's hard to argue with him.

Remember, after all of that, it's now Thunder ball, down two, with 11.3 seconds to go. And then this happens:

Westbrook's decision to hoist a contested three in that situation was beyond questionable, but Paul fouling him in the act was even worse, giving Russ three free throws for the lead, which he made while Durant couldn't bare to watch. Thunder 105, Clippers 104.

Paul and the Clippers had one last chance to avoid a disastrous collapse, but turned the ball over instead, completing said collapse:

GIF courtesy NBA.com boxscore video

Two things stand out from that final play. One, Jackson appeared to make as much contact with Paul as Paul did with Westbrook on the previous play (although Westbrook was in the act of shooting), and two, why didn't Paul immediately foul Ibaka after turning it over to extend the game? The Clippers had a timeout remaining and even if Ibaka made both free throws, would have had a second or more to attempt the game-tying three, at worst. Instead, Paul simply conceded defeat.

And that's the story of how the Thunder responded to an epic collapse of their own 48 hours prior with a stunning rally in one of the most controversial and confusing NBA finishes in some time.

For Oklahoma City, the story will be of a resilient win in a game that they led for a total of 83 seconds. The story will be of a 17-3 run over the final four minutes and an 8-0 run over the final 43 seconds. Of Russell Westbrook willing his team to victory with 38 points, six assists, five rebounds, three steals and the game-winning free throws on a night when Kevin Durant struggled. Of Durant fighting back from a 3-of-17 start to the night with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting in the final three minutes.

For L.A., the story will be of an inexcusable blown call and an inexcusable collapse. The story will be of Chris Paul deviating from his 'Point God' ways with 1-of-3 shooting, two turnovers and two fouls in the final four minutes, which included two turnovers in the final 13 seconds alone after he came into Game 5 with just one turnover in his previous 96 minutes.

For NBA fans in general, the story remains quite simple. This insanely compelling, star-studded, instant classic of a series continues to save us from the doldrums of an otherwise disappointing second round.

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