A breakdown of Chris Paul's heads-up play leading to Oklahoma City Thunder's overtime win versus Minnesota Timberwolves

Kyle Irving

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A breakdown of Chris Paul's heads-up play leading to Oklahoma City Thunder's overtime win versus Minnesota Timberwolves image

If you just looked at the box score, this overtime win for the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Minnesota Timberwolves would look no different than any other game.

If you check Twitter, you'll quickly see just how ridiculous this final result came to be.

Will you see the Steven Adams to Dennis Schroder buzzer-beater that sent the game into overtime? Maybe. Will you see that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 11 of the Thunder's 17 points in OT on his way to a career-high 29 points to lead the team to victory? Probably not.

But what you will see is that Chris Paul talked his team into a chance to win this game.

Does this all sound confusing?

Don't worry, we'll break it down for you below.

Chris Paul's call-out

The Timberwolves led by two points with 1.1 seconds on the clock as Karl-Anthony Towns stepped to the free throw line. He missed the first free throw, which already made things interesting.

Then, the savvy, veteran point guard Chris Paul made an observation that would change the game for his team. Paul shouted that Minnesota forward Jordan Bell did not have his jersey tucked in, which is a delay of game penalty, resulting in a technical free throw. The referee took notice to Paul's comment and charged Bell with a delay of game.

This type of tattletaling could be punishable for up to 15 minutes in timeout in kindergarten or early grade school but in this case, it gave the Thunder a chance.

Danilo Gallinari calmly stepped to the line and buried the technical free throw. It's now a one-point game.

With just 1.1 seconds on the clock, Towns looked to miss the second free throw, making for a hectic scramble in OKC trying to convert a full-court heave. He accidentally hit the free throw, giving the Thunder an opportunity to set up a "Hail Mary" inbounds play.

Adams to Schroder, touchdown!

Steven Adams takes the ball out of bounds. He sees Dennis Schroder over the top with one-on-one coverage. Touchdown!


We're heading to overtime!

Gilgeous-Alexander takes over

With somewhat of a clean slate – though it makes sense it was hard for the Timberwolves to re-focus after the hysteria that just occurred – the Thunder dominated the overtime period.

In particular, Canadian second-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over to send Minnesota home with a loss.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 11 of the team's 17 points in overtime, going 2-for-3 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

He finished the game with a career-high 29 points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Between him and Chris Paul's season-high 30 points, the Thunder were able to put a bow on one of the most unpredictable finishes we've seen in quite some time.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.