After a whirl of missed referee decisions, the Oklahoma City Thunder had an inbounds pass with 1.1 seconds to go in Game 7 while trailing the Houston Rockets by two points.
Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ended up passing it to center Steven Adams, who was coming out toward the 3-point line. Adams wasn’t able to corral it, and the Rockets knocked the ball away and won 104-102.
After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander said the play was drawn up for Danilo Gallinari.
Russell Westbrook, who was guarding the Gilgeous-Alexander, jumped out to double-team Gallinari as the power forward got to the 3-point arc.
“They sent two to Gallo,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “No one else was open besides Stevo for a split-second.”
Here, you can see Westbrook jump out to double Gallinari https://t.co/pcBJPGfEDq pic.twitter.com/aCtWqmozYW
— Logan Newman (@Logan_Newsman) September 3, 2020
Gallinari only had four points in Game 7 and was 2-for-6 from the field, but he is the most prolific Thunder 3-point shooter. This season, he shot above 40% on more than seven 3-point attempts per game.
The Rockets, well-aware of his skills as a stretch-four, converged on him.
Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t see any other players with openings, so he passed it to Adams. Westbrook was still close enough to get a hand on the ball and knock it away.
Chris Paul was guarded tightly by Eric Gordon and Lu Dort was at the 3-point line on the opposite side of the court.
With that play, Oklahoma City’s season came to a close.
Lu Dort led all players with 30 points and Chris Paul posted a triple-double, becoming just the second Thunder player to record such a statistic in a playoff game.
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