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The Warriors’ comeback win defied logic

Noah Frank | nfrank@wtop.com

April 24, 2015, 2:42 PM

1. The Warriors had never won a game in 356 tries after trailing by 20 entering the 4th quarter in the shot clock era. Never. As in, not once, ever. This was literally unprecedented.
2. Only two other teams have won while trailing by 20+ entering fourth quarter in an NBA playoff game. Furthermore, only one — the LA Clippers at Memphis in 2012 — did it on the road. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
AP Photo/Danny Johnston
3. The Warriors did not hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter until the final 11.8 seconds That’s right, the team led by the Splash Brothers and their lethal outside shooting missed all seven of their threes before Curry’s pump-fake triple 11:42 into the fourth brought them to within two at 107-105. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
4. The Pelicans’ bench outscored Golden State’s 44-11 through three quarters New Orleans’ reserves outscored the Warriors’ by 32 after Golden State’s bench had been +8 in Game 2. The Pels had three double-digit bench scorers (led by Ryan Anderson’s 26) after having just one in the first two games combined. Golden State only outscored New Orleans 15-14 in the fourth. (ESPN)
ESPN
5. A Warriors win was a near statistical impossibility After Norris Cole’s dunk with 5:10 remaining made it 103-88 Pelicans, New Orleans had a 99.6 percent win probability. When Jrue Holiday’s free throw made it 107-102 with 17 seconds left, that mark was still as high as 99.0 percent. But none of that mattered. (Inpredictable.com)
Inpredictable.com
6. If Steph Curry had made his first desperation shot, the Warriors would almost certainly have lost Remember Curry’s first shot? The one that led to Marreese Speights’ offensive rebound, which led to his game-tying miracle? His foot was on the line. A make would have only cut the lead to one, with no timeouts remaining for Golden State. They ended up being far better off for Curry having missed. (Deadspin.com)
Deadspin.com
7. Curry’s game-tying shot came with two defenders, including Anthony Davis, flying in his face This about sums it up. There was no foul called on the play, which might have led to a game-winning four-point play, saving the Pelicans the indignity of overtime. (Deadspin.com)
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WASHINGTON — We study every breakdown, every angle in sports these days. The more we know, the more we can predict what happens. That’s what we tell ourselves, anyway. And then something like Thursday night’s Warriors-Pelicans game happens, and we tear it all up and start over.

The Warriors are the top team in the Western Conference, after putting together a historically great season en route to a 67-15 record. They are a very good basketball team. That they should beat the eight seed is expected, even when the eight seed sport’s one of the league’s best players in Anthony Davis, and even when the game is on the road.

But when that team — any team — trails by 20 points headed to the fourth quarter, expectations dim dramatically. It’s hard to pick exactly what the craziest part about Golden State’s remarkable comeback was, so we’ll just list all of them and let you choose for yourself.

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