Nuggets 114, Thunder 113

Here's how it went down. 22 seconds left on the clock and Denver is up by 1, 112-111. OKC has the ball and surely I thought, surely, one of the babies gets the ball, works the clock and creates a shot or drives and dishes as time expires. Well, KD got the ball and promptly drives to the basket and lays it in. OKC up 113-112 now with 15 seconds left on the clock.

Why? Why in the world concede the last shot to Denver and Melo and J.R. Smith who had been lighting it up? I suppose it's more important to take a basket than wait to make sure Denver has no shot. But I wasn't celebrating. I felt impending doom. 15 seconds was way too long for Denver to get something cooking.

As it turns out Carmelo did make a basket, heavily contested though it was, with 5 seconds left. 114-113 Denver.

Now there's five seconds left. OKC draws up a play that's well defended and KD puts up a hopeless shot. Ballgame.

I just don't understand why Denver had any time at all. The ball in your hands with the play clock turned off is gold. Don't give it up. It's like in football when a team is driving at the end of a half and you work the clock so that the opposing team has as little time as possible to do anything. 15 seconds in basketball is like giving the other team two-and-a-half minutes in football.

I'd like to offer up a conspiracy theory. I don't want to believe it and based on my personal observations of the game I don't think it's true. However, my inner cynic forces me to bring it up.

What if the Thunder tanked? You have a wildly entertaining game so the crowd is none the wiser. The effort is there, Melo just made a shot. But Denver had the opportunity handed to them in the first place. 15 seconds. I'm just saying.

There's no way Denver should have had anything longer than two seconds to try and score to win. The Thunder were lucky to have five seconds of their own after the Melo make.

There's probably nothing to it. I doubt there is. It's way too early in the season and I'd hat to think it even crossed anyone's mind. The Thunder are young, they're learning. So on and so forth. Just something to throw out there. The ending was so bizarre.