Led by their superstar Russell Westbrook the OKC Thunder came back from down 25 points to capture the victory and stay alive in the series.
Let’s face it – being an OKC Thunder fan has been difficult this season. Throughout this campaign, a lack of consistency has bitten the Thunder over and over. Cut to game 5 and with 3:66 played in the third quarter the Jazz led by 25 points (71-46). At this point, many devout OKC Thunder fans presumed it was all over except the crying.
Yet, that was far from the case. What occurred over the next 8 minutes and 34 seconds is the stuff movie plots center on. The Peake was treated to the third-biggest comeback in NBA history. By the time the end of the quarter buzzer sounded the squads were level and the teams headed into a fourth-quarter with one looking to finish the series and one with hopes of extending the series.
To be clear, the hard work is far from over. The Thunder will need to go into Salt Lake City and win on a very home friendly court just to stay alive in the series. That said if OKC can do precisely that you have to believe it will play upon the Jazz psyche and give OKC an edge to do the unthinkable.
Certainly, the Thunder will want to emulate much of what they did in the third and fourth quarters of Game 5 and erase most of what they did for the greater portion of this series.
With that let’s examine the key takeaways from the incredible Game 5 comeback win.