The 5 best finishes to NBA games in 2013-14
Put the game's very best players on the floor for longer periods of time, mostly matched up against each other every other night, and you're bound for some back and forth affairs that go down to the wire and end in thrilling fashion.
As rotations tighten with the postseason at hand and star players routinely begin to log 40-plus minutes (or as Tom Thibodeau would call them, preseason minutes), these are the kinds of finishes we should expect more often than not throughout April, May and June. But before we step forward, let us first look back and relive five of the best finishes to regular season games we encountered in 2013-14...
Celtics vs. Heat - November 9
The season was only a couple of weeks old, the Heat had already lost a game to the 76ers and Boston was showing signs of potentially not being as bad as everyone thought they'd be. Either way, no one expected Jeff Green and the Celtics to go into Miami and do this:
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Warriors vs. Thunder - November 14
In an unbelievable mid-November game that would prove to be a preview of the thrilling action to come in the Western Conference, Russell Westbrook buried what looked like a game-winning three with just 2.3 seconds remaining, hushing the Orlacle Arena crowd while simultaneously sending Kevin Harlan into a frenzy. Moments later, Andre Iguodala responded with one of the shots of the year:
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Thunder vs. Warriors - November 29
Just two weeks after that epic finish at Golden State, the Thunder and Warriors replicated their clash for fans in Oklahoma City. Only this time, Westbrook left little doubt that his mammoth bucket would be the difference after keeping the offensive rebound alive, catching a Hail Mary baseline pass from Thabo Sefolosha, turning on a dime and burying a three with 0.1 seconds left in OT.
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Heat vs. Warriors - February 12
The All-Star break was a couple of days away, and with Kevin Durant dominating the MVP discussion and a Durant vs. LeBron matchup looming at All-Star weekend, LeBron James went out and dropped 36 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and two steals on the Warriors at Oracle. Three of those 36 points came on the last shot of the game, on what will go down as one of King James' finest regular season moments:
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Thunder vs. Raptors - March 21
The Thunder had lost Russell Westbrook for the game earlier in the night and found themselves down eight with 49 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, but this is 2013-14 Kevin Durant we're talking about. No lead is safe with The Slim Reaper on the floor, as the Raptors were about to find out. The Raptors missed a shot, committed a turnover and then missed two (John Salmons) free throws over their final three possessions, while the Thunder buried three triples, including two from Durant. The last of those triples, courtesy KD, was just the latest in a long line of Raptors heartbreak at Air Canada Centre:
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Bonus: Raptors vs. Grizzlies - January 27
If you want an idea of just how tight the four meetings between Toronto and Brooklyn were this season, and why fans are so excited for this Atlantic Division playoff matchup, watch how ridiculous this thrilling finish was: