Off-peak times oblige, TrashTalk has taken the habit each summer of making you relive with emotion the greatest moments of the past season. Except in 2021, because in the summer of 2021 know that the editorial team came very close to surrendering, but that’s another story. So we go back to the good old formula, we go back a few months, and we remember that this 2021-22 season was crazy, from the first day to the last. Today ? The proof that even led by 35 points… you can still win a basketball game.
The stats of this ALL-TIME comeback, it’s right here!
It happened at the end of January, during a cold evening like so many others at this time of year. After a healthy siesta, we muster up our courage, turn on the coffee machine and get ready for the evening matches. An average regular season night for an NBA fan, nine games are scheduled, headlined by a Nets-Lakers and a Mavs-Warriors. Except that our attention will gradually turn to a poster that is much less attractive on paper: the match between the Wizards and the Clippers.. The Wizards, who have home advantage, are trying to kick off their season with All-Star guard Bradley Beal in charge. For their part, the Clippers find themselves struggling to scratch a good position in the jungle of the West, deprived for the entire season of Kawhi Leonard, then that evening of Paul George or Marcus Morris.
A great hassle which makes us think that it looks complicated for the Sailboats, and this impression is confirmed on the floor: in the first two quarters, there is only one team on the field with Wizards who constantly feed the score against a completely clueless Los Angeles team. The gap rises to +35, and there are still 30 left when returning to the locker room for halftime. game-over… or not. Yes, because this second half will clearly fall into the realm of the paranormal, the irrational, the supernatural. The surprising Amir Coffey will go up a level to take the role of leader of the scoring for LA, it starts well, assisted as he was by Terance Mann, Luke Kennard or Isaiah Hartenstein, better and better. 40-27 at the end of the third period and a gap reduced to -17, there is not yet fire in the lake for the Wizards but a wake-up call is expected so as not to become the laughingstock of the League. The Clippers will come back early below ten points, but they are struggling to get close enough to shake their opponent. the gap between the two teams is stagnating around ten points and time is running out. Three minutes from the end, the Californians finally stall a run to return to 2 points (103-105), an attempt however controlled by Washington, which finds itself in a position to conclude after a dunk from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. With 8 points ahead 37 seconds from the buzzer (105-113), it feels like the end. But here again, we are going to witness a hallucinating scenario.
OMG🚨| the Clippers go up 35 points and finish with a 4-point Buzzer to end the game against the Wizards🔥
— MAX HOLLOWAY (@MaxHollowaySim) January 26, 2022
With quick actions and missed shots, the Clippers finally find themselves with the ball in hand, less than 11 seconds to play and still 6 points to go. Mission impossible you say? Not when you have an ultra-clutch sniper in your squad like Luke Kennard, crowned king of Los Angeles for one crazy night. Lucky Luke begins by unsheathing a shot 3 meters behind the winning line, and it sucks (112-115). It is now necessary to attempt the interception and score at 3-point to snatch an extension. A throw-in messed up by the Wizards and a rebound from Reggie Jackson later, the man who shoots faster than his shadow finds himself with the equalizing ball in his hands. Facing Bradley Beal, the blond left-hander will seek contact on a 3-point shot, out of balance… AND IT GOES IN, WITH THE FAULT AS A BONUS. The action is enormous, the Californian bench literally explodes. After going around the field, Kennard resumes his concentration: he still has to put the bonus throw to get the win. The job is obviously done on the line, and the Clippers ensure a completely absurd victory (116-115). Several crazy stats confirm that what we have witnessed is unreal: the Clippers have therefore come back 35 points behind, outside, without their two best players. They win a match that has seen them lead only once, 1.9 seconds from the final buzzer. A magnificent choke, which can almost be considered as a tribute offered by the Wizards to their opponents, whose reputation is second to none in this area. But that night at least, Lob City was on the winning side.
A match that has long looked like blow out, a fantastic comeback, a completely crazy final scenario and an unlikely hero. Let’s not be afraid of words: this night of January 26, 2022 we experienced an ALL-TIME evening, which is likely to remain in our memories for a while. Luke Kennard who evolves to an MVP level and marks history by going back a huge gap with the franchise which raised the choke to the rank of art, it was well worth a little flashback.
Source: NBC