Sometimes an evening and a match can be played out a few centimeters away, a few milliseconds away. Lauri Markkanen knows it well, he who went from being the savior of the Jazz to that of the loser, after returning one of the craziest shots of this season in the NBA.
Poor Lauri, life is cruel but unfortunately that’s the rule of basketball.
Again huge for the Jazz, he who is in the process of making us an All-Star season, Markkanen almost returned the shot of the year this season.
Let’s put the context back in place. While De’Aaron Fox is on cloud nine, planting 22 of his 37 points in the final quarter, Utah needs a miracle. Yes, a real miracle, since the leader of the Kings has just returned a victorious lay-up and the Jazz must literally improvise.
0.4 seconds on the clock, more time-outs for Will Hardy.
It is therefore a baseline throw-in that is given for Jarred Vanderbilt, asking him to do his best imitation of Pat Mahomes. The former Wolves captain sees his friend Markkanen tumbling down the right wing, and he thinks that sending a prayer in the air will allow Lauri to attempt a miraculous shot at the buzzer.
On one leg, out of balance, in front of the Kings bench and at the buzzer, the Finn sends out a prayer… which is a hit.
Explosion of the public, the staff of Sacramento is in shock, all the efforts made for 47 minutes and 59 seconds are played on a single action.
While the Jazz bench sprints towards Markkanen to congratulate him on this achievement, Kevin Huerter waves his finger to announce that the referees must see the replay. And that’s what the refereeing trio does, going to the scorer’s table to see what’s going on.
Cold shower for Jazz, slow motion is obvious: the ball is still barely in Lauri’s hands, when the buzzer sounds…
In a season where everything can come down to a few wins or losses, participation in the Play-in Tournament as well as a place in the Playoffs, this type of defeat is generally what comes to mind at the very end of the campaign. No doubt the Jazz and their fans will come back to these few centimeters, these few milliseconds, in case of sadness next spring.
