On a night where the Sweet 16 captured the basketball universe, the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls may have outdone even the wildest March Madness finish you could ever imagine. The Bulls won, 119-117, but it would be impossible to guess how they got there.
At least four shots appeared to be game-winners, only to be upstaged by the next hero. It’s worth breaking down the game’s final 30 seconds, which were absolutely bonkers.
0:27 – Austin Reaves comes up clutch
Let’s start with 27 seconds left and the Lakers up by a single point, 111-110. Austin Reaves found himself isolated on Nikola Vucevic (a familiar target for the Lakers throughout the game), and he drove, stopped on a dime, and hit a tough fallaway floater to put the Lakers up by three points.
After Josh Giddey airballed a floater on the ensuing possession, Reaves was fouled and made both free throws, creating a seemingly insurmountable five-point lead (115-110) with 13 seconds to play.
But the Bulls weren’t having any of that.
0:10 – Bulls hit two 3s in six seconds
Chicago coach Billy Donovan drew up a nice inbounds play that wound up with Vučević throwing a quick pass to Patrick Williams, who knocked down a corner 3 with 10 seconds remaining. That’s when all hell broke loose.
On the ensuing inbound pass, LeBron James attempted to get the ball to Reaves, but it was intercepted by Giddey. He threw a quick dime to Coby White, who splashed a wing 3-pointer to give the Bulls an inexplicable two-point lead with six seconds left.
Game over, right? Not even close.
0:06 – Reaves’ layup spoiled by Giddey’s winning bomb
Reaves struck again on the Lakers’ next possession, making a driving layup to give him 30 points and what looked like the game-winner with 3.1 seconds to play.
Instead, Giddey quickly inbounded to Williams, who tossed it right back to Giddey. He took one dribble to halfcourt and let loose a heave which — of course — went right through the hoop.
Bulls win, 119-117. You could watch a million basketball games in your life and never see another ending…
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