One of the Timberwolves commentators says at the end of the video that there’s a 3000-to-1 chance of winning the game when down by 12 with 44 seconds left. Pretty longs odds, but not totally unwinnable. What kind of scenario would have to play out for victory to be snatched from the iron grip of defeat? I think I figured out one such sequence of events:
Step 1: Gordon Hayward dies while getting blocked by Ricky Rubio.
Step 2: Rubio takes a pull-up three and cans it.
Step 3: Jazz timeout; dead Hayward is replaced with Tibor Pleiss.
Step 4: Rubio steals inbound pass thrown by Pleiss.
Step 5: Zach LaVine takes a three and it settles motionless on the back of the rim.
Step 6: From the bench, Tayshaun Prince blows hard enough to guide ball into rim.
Step 7: Jazz execute a full court lob from Neto to Gobert while crying.
Step 8: They should have taken more time off the clock.
Step 9: Sam Mitchell calls timeout and stares blankly at his team while making guttural moaning noises.
Step 10: Rubio inbounds to Karl Anthony-Towns, who shoots from three-quarters court.
Step 11: Pleiss fails to box out.
Step 12: Rubio putback slams the missed three.
Step 13: Pleiss inbounds the ball again.
Step 14: Again, it gets stolen by Rubio, because he (Pleiss) sucks.
Step 15: Rubio cans another three.
Step 16: Jazz are out of timeouts and tears.
Step 17: 5 seconds remain.
Step 18: Favors inbounds the ball this time while Pleiss clambers on top of the Jazz basket and sulks.
Step 19: John Havlicek steals the ball.
Step 20: Jim Pedersen channels the spirit of Johnny Most and yells “Havlicek stole the ball!”
Step 21: Havlicek passes to Rubio, who cans yet another three, this time while getting fouled by the lifeless corpse of Hayward.
Step 22: The crowd begins to stream onto the court.
Step 23: In the confusion, one of the scorekeepers mistakenly awards a made free throw to Rubio, even though he has already been swept away by the joyous throng.
Step 24: Timberwolves win.
Not so improbable now is it?