Thanks to a plethora of injuries and the complete inability to play defense, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be sitting at home for the playoffs for the first time since the 2008-09 season. To put that in perspective, James Harden hadn’t even been drafted yet. That’s how long it’s been since the NBA Playoffs have not been graced by their presence. They are also staying home because of an insane buzzer-beater and magnificent Game 82 performance, both by super-duper star-in-the-making Anthony Davis.
On the final night of the regular season, all the New Orleans Pelicans needed to do was win. Win and you’re in, no matter what the Thunder did in their game (they won). It wasn’t going to be easy, as their opponent, the San Antonio Spurs, were actually playing for a more favorable seed. If the Spurs won, they would land the Western Conference’s #2 seed and guaranteed home court advantage in the first two rounds. Davis made sure it didn’t happen, tossing up 31 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, along with two momentum-swinging blocks and two nobody-is-getting-this-rebound-but-me boards in crunch time. He sealed the deal on a 108-103 win with two free throws (the final margin came on a meaningless Spurs layup at the buzzer).
Davis’ performance, and the Pels’ perseverance through multiple Spurs rallies, was the final nail in the Thunder’s coffin. The second-to-last nail (of sorts) had been driven home months earlier on the Thunder’s home court. Let’s rewind to February 6th, a Friday night affair in OKC that featured a healthy Russell Westbrook and a still-hobbled Kevin Durant. The Pels found themselves tied with only a few ticks on the clock, when The Brow did this:
Davis’ first three-pointer of the season was huge in two ways: 1) it gave the Pelicans a nice revenge win over the Thunder (they’d lost to them just two nights earlier), and 2) more importantly, it gave them a 3-1 advantage in the season series. Heading into Wednesday night’s finale, both teams had identical records. Thanks to Davis’ absurd buzzer beater, the Pelicans held the season tie breaker. Thanks to Davis’ All-NBA level performance against the Spurs, they’re going to the playoffs.
Not only that, Davis may have also saved his coach’s job. The Brow may, in fact, just be a real life super hero.
Ownership gave GM Dell Demps and Monty Williams preseason mandate to make playoffs to keep jobs, w/ no allowance for injuries. They made it.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) April 16, 2015
