Off-peak times oblige, TrashTalk has taken the habit each summer of making you relive with emotion the greatest moments of the past season. Even in 2021, moreover, despite a summer that had then put all of our vital forces in PLS, but that’s another story. So we go back to our good old formula, we take a few steps back, a few months, and we remember that this 2021-22 season was crazy, from the first day to the last. Today ? We come back to a shot that came straight… from space.
For the stats of this match, of which we will only remember the last five seconds, it’s right here
Only a few days ago, on behalf of this series of flashbacks on the 2021-22 fiscal year, we returned to this famous game where the Thunder suffered the heaviest defeat in NBA history once morest the Grizzlies: 79 -152. Well, you have to believe that this season, Oklahoma City was keen to take part in several records. Oops, too bad it’s still in the role of the victim. So let’s go back several months once once more, to stop our time machine at that famous December 15, 2021. That evening, Adam Silver concocted a nice program for us of no less than eleven games. And the icing on the cake? We are in full Panzani Wednesday. What more ? Even before having started, the evening promises to be cult, and believe us, it was. Because while our two franchises of the day, namely Thunder and Pelicans, are warming up… things are heating up elsewhere in America. We can, for example, cite Cleveland which brings the rockets back down to earth by sticking a good big spanking in Houston with Isaac Okoro who slams a two-handed poster on one, two, three, fifteen… in short, on the face of absolutely everyone Texas. Not to mention Jarrett Allen who not only prevented Jae’Sean Tate from going to the dunk but also took the opportunity to send him six feet under, taking care to close the coffin in the process. But it was above all in…Dallas that our evening was illuminated for the first time.
Without Luka Doncic, the Mavs must face the Lakers then in search of a second title (lol). The match is close, and the eyes of all NBA fans are of course riveted on this confrontation which started at 1:30 am. No offense to the Magic and the Hawks, but we clearly have something else to give a fuck than to prefer Moritz Wagner to LeBron James. Moreover, the King is having a field day since he even allows himself in the middle of the third quarter to pull-up ten meters and make a filoche. The farthest shot of the night…yet. Because next door, the very opposite of a “summit meeting” has just started between New Orleans and Oklahoma City around 2am. Not enough to make us change our minds. Back in Dallas, where Wayne Ellington has just forced the game into overtime. As we approach the final seconds of overtime, the two teams are tied following an unlikely firefight between Russell Westbrook and Maxi Kleber. On the Lakers’ last possession, Russ drives and comes out on Austin Reaves… who plants the 3-point shot from the win with 0.9 seconds left. Game-over. Without a time-out, Dallas won’t come back. The basketball planet is on fire, and it is not at the end of its surprises. Because in complete anonymity, at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma, another game is slowly approaching the end, while the score is very close.
Busy elsewhere in Texas, we missed a good part of the duel in the western slums between the Pelicans (9-21) and Thunder (8-19). However, several highlights from this match will appear in the Top 10 Plays of the Night. This is for example the case of Tre Mann who, from the first quarter, begins his meeting by climbing Garrett Temple to go and slam a good big tomar followed by the stare-down that goes with it. A poor little pelican who will be avenged by Brandon Ingram who will fly like an eagle a few minutes later to posterize Mike Muscala AND Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Of course, they had the right to take the photo away, don’t worry. Ah! We are told that Tre Mann has done it once more, this time with Willy Hernangómez as the victim. We wish a lot of courage to the Spaniard who is according to our information still on the floor trying to find where Mann might have passed following his crossover. The answer being: already starting once more following scoring alone. Still, we only arrive now, with 3 minutes 34 left to play, and the score is 100-100. Are we going to have the right to an epic end to the match? At the moment, we have big doubts, but… let’s see.
To From then on, it’s surprisingly not Tomáš Satoranský and Ty Jerome who play all the balls, but Brandon Ingram and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Either, we would have clearly made another tactical choice, but let’s move on. With just four seconds left, OKC took a time-out following BI scored two shots to put the Pels in front by three small points (110-107). On the Thunder side, the instructions are clear: the orange ball must go into Shai’s hands. On the Pelicans side, the instruction is… supposed to be clear: we foul to avoid 3-point shots. The two teams place themselves on the field, the referee whistles, SGA stands out and receives the pass from Josh Giddey, nine meters from the circle in the axis, as expected. Well done Oklahoma, instructions respected! Garrett Temple, in defense, finds himself two meters from the nugget when she receives the ball. Not well played New Orleans, instructions absolutely not respected! And of course, what has to happen will happen. Feeling that his defender is going to make a mistake, the Canadian puts a side dribble and starts a shot on one leg. Mr. Temple does try to carry out the only mission entrusted to him, but it is too late. After remaining suspended for two seconds in the air in dead silence, the ball pierces the net and causes the explosion of the Paycom Center. For his part, Garrett found the culprit: himself the referees, to whom he drops a pretty scarface while he regains his senses. He can actually thank them, because not only did Shai just send a shell over the head of the Pelicans, but he might even have benefited from an extra throw. But by the way, there are still 1.4 seconds left, more than enough to take a last shot, right?
Still stunned by what has just happened to them, the Pelicans take two seconds to reconnect their neurons to understand that they have time for one last attempt. To Conversely, Oklahoma players do not lose the north and retreat immediately to avoid long passes. Not really surprising since New Orleans no longer has any time-outs and only a second and a half to shoot. After he finishes complaining, Garrett Temple walks away, realizing he’s screwed up enough for today. Nickeil Alexander-Walker does the same. Josh Hart then decides to take charge of the throw-in. Brandon Ingram looks completely lost, so much so that one almost wonders what the fuck is a guy planted in the middle of the field doing nothing. It is therefore Devonte ‘Graham who will present himself to take the last shot. However, having decided to ask for the ball in his own racket, the latter is therefore defended by… no one. In a single second, the guard receives the small pass from his teammate, poses a dribble, and sends a prayer from the 3-point line … opponent. Twenty-two meters further (yes yes, 22) following crossing a Paycom Center on fire in which the final buzzer sounds, the ball will come crashing once morest the board before ending its course in the circle. Air conditioning is terrible. The commentators are freaking out, the Pels bench is exulting, the OKC players are in the middle of a nightmare, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cannot believe his eyes. Pelicans 113, Thunder 110. Two completely crazy shots have just been linked, but it is Graham’s buzzer beater that will go down in history, becoming the furthest ever in the NBA. And following celebrating in front of shocked fans, the Zion buddies decide to run out of the room, pointing their fingers in the air, just to piss off every person in blue who has just witnessed this scene. completely surreal.
In the end, despite the 33 and 34 points respectively scored by SGA and BI, the hero of the night is indeed called Devonte ‘Graham, who finished with 15 small points at 5/10 from the parking lot, including 1/1 from Louisiana . What an amazing shot though. And to think that we were excited 30 minutes earlier on the Austin Reaves shot… long live Panzani Wednesdays.
