Clippers player misses chance at easy game-winning basket because he thought the game was over
The Los Angeles Clippers missed a golden chance to steal a last-second win against the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday night.
With 2.8 seconds left in the game and 1.7 seconds left on the shot clock, the Clippers inbounded the ball to Chris Paul with the game tied at 87.
Paul came around a curl and lofted a shot up that bounced off the backboard and rim before bouncing out and landing directly in center DeAndre Jordan's hands as the shot clock expired. There were still .7 seconds left in the game, but Jordan mistook the shot clock buzzer for the game buzzer.
When he caught the rebound, he simply stood there holding the ball, wide open under the basket, unaware he could still score to win the game.
In Jordan's defense, there seemed to be a clock malfunction after the shot clock went off, because it simply stops at .7 seconds instead of ringing out.
Paul was in Jordan's face, screaming maniacally to put the ball back up.
Still, Jordan was tantalizingly close to winning the game. He held the ball up near the basket, too, meaning a quick dunk could have won the game for the Clippers.
Instead, the game went to overtime and the Blazers won.