This Clippers team is used to improbable turnarounds, but the one last night, on the Pistons’ floor, even surprised Tyronn Lue.
Because if the match was tight until the middle of the fourth quarter, a 13-0 Detroit seemed to have determined the outcome of the meeting. At 126-112 for the Pistons with just over three minutes left, and with Los Angeles playing back-to-back in Toronto tonight, Tyronn Lue had decided to raise the white flag.
Tyronn Lue empties his bench…
Alongside Nicolas Batum and Luke Kennard, the coach sent Terance Mann onto the pitch, but also Moses Brown and Amir Coffey, the latter two not yet having returned from the match.
A group which, rather than giving up, will on the contrary revive the Clippers to snatch the extension!
“We must salute these guys, who remained ready” Tyronn Lue recognized. “They came onto the pitch and they played with a sense of urgency. Amir and Moses weren’t home from the game, but they got on the pitch and they were productive. For us, it was huge.”
This group responded to Detroit’s 13-0 with a 16-2 that sent both teams into overtime. There, it was Paul George who made the difference for the Clippers, against the shocked Pistons.
0.015% chance of winning!
“We were trailing by 15 points in the third quarter, we fought to come back, take a comfortable lead with three minutes to play. They raised the white flag but we have to learn how to kill a game” scolded Dwane Casey. “I’m proud of how we’ve put ourselves in a position to beat one of the best teams in the West, but we don’t understand yet. »
Killian Hayes’ mismanagement late in the game cost Detroit dearly. Even if it’s part of learning for the French leader, this setback hurts because such a collapse is extremely rare.
Since the NBA noted the course of action, the 1996/97 season, only two teams had won a game after trailing by 14 points entering the last three minutes. The Hawks in March 1997 against the Magic and the Kings in January 2020 against the Wolves. Two victories out of a total of 12,873 matches.
Statistically, the chances of winning in these situations were therefore only 0.015% until last night! Thanks to the Clippers, they now drop to 0.023%…
