The Game

December 10, 2019

It was the final game of the NBA (National Basketball Association) 2049-2050 season. Everything was on the line. The Portland Trail Blazers was hosting the Boston Celtics, and there were only forty seconds left in the game. The score was 86-94 to the Celtics. Point guard Scott Jones, Blazer’s ten times all-star, had already rallied the team from a twenty-five point deficit at the end of the third quarter to only eight points. In the process, he had scored twenty of those points. There was still a slim hope for the Blazers. The Celtics had just missed their last shot, and the Blazers had possession.

Sprinting down the court with the ball, Jones launched a deep three. Swish. The fans buzzed in excitement. The arena, which was dead only twenty minutes ago, had come back to life. Frustrated by the Blazer’s mounting comeback, the Celtics attempted to inbound the ball quickly. However, Jones reading the inbound pass well, stole the ball back and capped off the steal with a hammering two-handed dunk. The fans began to go crazy. The Celtic’s lead had been cut to three, and there were still twenty-seven seconds left in the game. 

“Defense! Defense!” the home crowd chanted thunderously in unison. The Blazers needed another stop here. If the Celtics were to score even one point, the game would be over. As the Celtics’ point guard, Matthew Evans, dribbled the ball up the court, Jones rushed to defend him. Seeing this, Evans signaled his teammates for an isolation play against Jones. He wanted to ice the game himself. Evans attempted to maneuver around Jones with quick crossovers, but Jones kept his defensive stance successfully. He always made sure to be in front of Evans. Every time Evans would move to the right, Jones would be able to follow suit. Every time Evans would move to the left, Jones would be there in less than a second. Seeing that the shot clock began to run low, Evans had no choice. Frustrated, he took a highly contested step back jumper. Clonk. The ball hit the rim and fell out. Jones rushed to grab the rebound and called a timeout. The fans roared in excitement. The Blazer’s hopes were still alive. However, Evans had successfully used up all twenty-four seconds from the shot clock, and only three seconds remained in the game. Time was against the Blazers.

Both team’s coaches gave their players simple orders. The Blazers were told to let Jones take the last shot no matter the situation, and the Celtics were ready to double team, Jones. As the players walked back up on the court and prepared for the final seconds, the crowd shouted “Jones! Jones! Jones!” They wanted Jones to take the final shot. The whistle blew, and the ball was inbounded to Jones at the top of the three-point line. With two Celtics defenders marking him tightly, Jones attempted to penetrate through them but was unsuccessful. With time running out, he took a side step and launched the ball up with an off-balanced shot. The buzzer rang. Everyone held their breaths. Their eyes glued to the ball’s trajectory. Clonk. The ball struck the rim. Clonk. The ball bounced off the other side of the rim. Swish. The ball rolled into the net. Everyone in the stadium celebrated. The place went berserk. History had just been rewritten. 

Everyone celebrated, including the opposing team. Jones had only taken a two-point shot to beat the buzzer. The score was 93-94. A one-point victory for the Celtics. This win for the Celtics, which was the last regular-season game, ensured that they would keep the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and make it to the playoffs. On the other hand, the loss did not affect the Blazers. Prior to going into this game, they had already secured the first seed in the Western Conference with a 75-6 record. This game was not supposed to be anything special. However, Jones made it special by scoring 101 points.

Click HERE for the writing process!

Reflection: This was one of the more fun pieces that I found to write. The inspiration for this story came from listening to a sports podcast which talked about James Harden potentially scoring over 100 points in one game this season. When I heard this, I immediately thought I could create a story out of a player scoring 100 points in the NBA. The downside of this story though is that it takes someone who watches the NBA to fully understand the story. Regardless, I chose to stick with this idea because I do not write about sports stories too often and thought it would be fun to give it a try!