Davis, who had stepped up from the paint, Barrett, whom Chen Xi had shaken off, and Cunningham, who was coming over from the wing to double-team him, were all more than a step too late.
All three could only watch as Chen Xi released his three-pointer.
Then the ball swished through the net.
An ultimate moment of individual heroics!
Yet another display of Chen Xi's extraordinary clutch ability!
The gap was back down to one!
Chen Xi calmly buried the clutch three, then turned and led the entire New York Knicks team in a quick retreat on defense.
Now the pressure was back on the Thunder.
Westbrook received the inbound pass in the backcourt, quickly crossed half court, then burned time at the top of the key while waiting for Donovan's instructions.
Once the play had been decided, Westbrook turned and signaled to his teammates, then passed to Cunningham as he came up to receive it.
Cade Cunningham took over the job of running the offense at this critical moment.
Perhaps, at the same time, he also accepted the torch Westbrook was passing him as Oklahoma's point guard.
Getting a point guard with four NBA championships to relinquish control in crunch time was no easy feat, especially when he still had plenty left in the tank...
After receiving the pass, C.C. followed Donovan's instructions to the letter, dribbling toward the right side of the top of the key and waiting for Davis to come up for an on-ball screen, while Alexander curled around another screen on the opposite side.
Then he used AD's pick-and-roll to accelerate into the paint.
He gathered the ball on the move and took slow, measured steps, drawing Horford forward before passing to Davis on the roll.
Davis caught the pass and faced George, who had