The Nuggets vs. Thunder win probability chart after the Aaron Gordon shot is mesmerizing
The Nuggets vs. Thunder win probability chart after the Aaron Gordon shot is mesmerizing
The Denver Nuggets had a highly improbable comeback win versus the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first game of the Western Conference semifinals.
Oklahoma City held a lead as large as 14 points while at home during the opening matchup of the Western Conference semifinals. After completing a 15-4 run to end the game, per ESPN, Denver became the first team to erase a nine-point lead over the course of the final three minutes since 2015.
This was all possible because just days after he also had a game-winning dunk in the first round of the playoffs, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon once again came up in the clutch with a massive 3-pointer.
More: Aaron Gordon's series-saving dunk proved just how difficult it will be to actually bury the Nuggets
More: 1 stat shows just how doomed the Nuggets might be against the Thunder in the playoffs
To illustrate just how improbable it was for Denver to pull off this comeback, let's take a look at some win probability charts.
Here is one from Inpredictable, which shows just how in control Oklahoma City was until the final seconds of the game:
Here is another version from ESPN Analytics, who pegged Oklahoma City with an 89.1 percent chance of winning with just 13.2 seconds remaining in regulation.
But thanks to Gordon's heroics, he was able to reverse the course of the game:
More: The Celtics and Thunder played like losers so they lost
Fortunately for Oklahoma City, they weren't the only top-seeded team to play poorly in the series opener.
Cleveland and Boston also had similarly difficult Game 1 performances despite entering the games as a favorites.
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