Tuesday night’s thriller between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers featured the most dramatic ending of the NBA playoffs, with the Thunder rallying from seven points down in the final 50 seconds to win 105-104 and take a 3-2 series lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
The game also produced arguably the best image from these playoffs.
On the surface, this photo of Kevin Durant (by Ronald Martinez of Getty Images) doesn’t look like anything too noteworthy. But a closer look reveals it wasn’t taken during a timeout — it was snapped while Russell Westbrook (that blurry figure in the top right) was shooting what proved to be the go-ahead free throws with six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
When Westbrook went to the line after being fouled by Chris Paul on a 3-point attempt, Durant walked to the far corner of the court, sat down and stared out at the home crowd, unable to watch as his teammate completed the Thunder’s incredible comeback.
“I have never seen a game like this with us,” Durant said after the final horn, via USA Today. “It just shows that we just keep going. You can never keep us down, and we are going to fight until the end.”
Oklahoma City now has a chance to wrap up the series and advance to the conference finals for the third time in four seasons. Game 6 is set for Thursday night at Staples Center.
Photo via Twitter/@NBCSN
