Michael Malone was transported back to the bubble as the Timberwolves scooped up the remnants of another deflating missed layup and advanced up the left side of the floor. Mike Conley even caught the ball in the same spot on the wing.
He was wearing a Utah Jazz jersey when his ill-fated shot rimmed out at the buzzer five years ago, preserving the Nuggets’ Game 7 win in the first round of the playoffs. Overcome by some combination of joy and relief, the Nuggets celebrated in a sterile environment.
This time, a capacity crowd at Ball Arena was too loud to register the plot twist after the ball worked its way from Conley to Anthony Edwards to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, whose 3-pointer was no good at the buzzer, sparking a split-second rolling tide of the same emotions.