DeAndre Jordan had a chance to be the hero Wednesday night. He just didn’t realize it.
The Los Angeles Clippers center made a costly and unfortunate brain fart in the closing moments of a close game against the Portland Trail Blazers. In a tie game, with 2.8 seconds on the game clock and 1.7 seconds on the shot clock, the Clippers inbounded to Chris Paul, whose bank shot attempt rimmed out.
Buzzer. Game. Or so Jordan thought.
Mistakenly thinking the shot clock buzzer was the game horn, Jordan caught Paul’s miss and stood there. To be fair, Jordan wasn’t the only person confused; Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Nic Batum and Robin Lopez also stood flat-flooted as though the game was over, and the Staples Center clock operator halted time at 0.7 seconds. The game clock should have kept running, since Paul’s shot hit the rim.
Give credit to the little guys for understanding the situation, though. While Blazers guard Damian Lillard swiped at the ball, Paul yelled frantically at Jordan to shoot. The big man didn’t realize what happened until it was too late, sending the game into overtime.
The Clippers fell in the extra session, 98-93.
Thumbnail photo via Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports Images
