Fadeaway Jumper After the Drift, a Buzzer-Beater Against the Pelicans

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

The Pelicans players rushed over to Butler, surrounding him and celebrating his shot in excitement.

But Butler, the undisputed star of the moment, didn't look nearly as happy as his teammates.

JB knew perfectly well that the game wasn't over yet.

Even after running the clock down as far as possible, they'd still left the Thunder some time!

That made it hard for him to relax and celebrate the shot without a care.

So Butler only went along with his teammates' celebration for a moment before turning and heading straight back to his bench. He looked to Gentry, waiting for him to lay out a strategy for their final defensive stand.

To his disappointment, Gentry didn't come up with anything particularly inventive. He simply told the players to stay focused and pay extra attention to Chen Xi... That was all.

The brief timeout soon ended.

The Thunder were inbounding from the sideline. (In the final two minutes, the team calling timeout could choose to inbound from the frontcourt sideline.)

Westbrook stood by the sideline, waiting for the referee to hand him the ball.

Meanwhile, the Thunder had once again put out their most offense-oriented lineup.

Westbrook, Alexander, Chen Xi, Anthony, and Gasol.

Since Westbrook had to inbound the ball and Chen Xi was certain to face intense defensive pressure, Alexander, Gasol, and Anthony were there to step up if Chen Xi couldn't get the ball cleanly when it mattered.

They all had plenty of experience and knew how to handle the ball. They could also knock down open shots from the perimeter.

At the sound of the referee's whistle, the Thunder's final possession began!

Near the sideline, a short distance from Westbrook, Chen Xi fought to hold Butler off with his body and stretched out his arm to receive