Inside the dogpile: Thunder explain play call that set up Lu Dort’s game-winner

As Lu Dort’s shot from the corner reached the hoop as time was expiring, the second-year wing slid to the floor. He saw the ball going in the hoop. Teammates sprinted over to pound on his chest and celebrate.

Basket. Game. The Oklahoma City Thunder took down the San Antonio Spurs 102-99 with Dort clinching the victory.

After the Thunder forced a Patty Mills turnover on the previous possession, head coach Mark Daigneault called a timeout to set up a play with 3.9 seconds remaining. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander inbounded to Al Horford, who drove and kicked it out to the wide-open Dort — but that wasn’t exactly the plan.

The coach and those three players described the set-up of the play and what actually went down.

Daigneault: “On the last play, Shai was the inbounder and we ran some action. It’s supposed to be a two-man game between he and Al, which includes him just taking a cut.”

It made sense that the Thunder would try to get the ball to Gilgeous-Alexander. The third-year guard finished with 42 points, a career-high, and he broke his previous mark during the middle of a 21-point third quarter.

Daigneault: “But (Jakob) Poeltl went for the steal and Al drove the ball and made the right play.”

Horford: “The Spurs were being aggressive, I believe they probably had a foul to give. I know that defensively, they probably wanted to get a steal.”

Gilgeous-Alexander had inbounded the ball and then taken a step toward Horford, looking like he may get the handoff and screen for a shot.

He didn’t get the chance, but even with 42 points, Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t calling for the ball. He didn’t feel the need to take the final shot himself.

Gilgeous-Alexander: “If it needed to get to that, it would have got to that anyway, that was the way it was designed. Coach just tried to draw it up to get me an advantage early, to make the play easier on my end. It was like three seconds, four seconds on the clock, so I wouldn’t really have time to wind up.”

Instead, Horford took advantage of Poeltl attacking the ball on the inbound pass.

Horford: “I had different options. Once I saw that Poeltl overplayed, I just decided to go to the basket. As soon as I saw Lu’s defender commit, the ball was out.”

Dort: “I didn’t know where the ball was going to fall, so I was just ready to make the play.”

Dort caught the ball with two seconds left and all the space in the world in front of him. It was plenty of time to line up the shot.

He put it up. As it reached the hoop, he started to celebrate solo.

Dort: “It felt good when it left my hand. I was just staring at the ball the whole time. When it dropped in, I dropped too.”

Thunder teammates rushed to him to join him on the floor in jubilation. Dort laughed while explaining the dogpile.

Dort: “They were all yelling in my face. (Darius Bazley) was really close to my face, I was trying to get him away from my face. But it just felt great, seeing my teammates happy for me.”

Horford: “That was great, it really felt like a March Madness buzzer-beater type. You’re running, and emotions are flying high. A lot of energy, a lot of joy. Kind of surreal, you’re kind of shocked and happy, just a lot of emotions going on at the same time. Just so happy for Lu for hitting that shot.”

Dort: “That’s my first time making a game-winning shot. … You never know when it’s going to happen, and today was my day.”