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It was an epic, almost unfathomable outcome, given the circumstances. The LA Clippers lost to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday after leading by 18 points with five minutes left. The Clippers missed their last nine shots. The Kings went 9-of-11 from the field in the final five minutes. A year ago to the day, Buddy Hield was leading Oklahoma to the Final Four. On Sunday, he scored 11 points in the final five minutes. Entering Sunday, teams were 6,746-1 the past 20 seasons when leading by at least 18 points in the final five minutes. The 2016-17 Kings and 2012-13 Trail Blazers are the only teams in the past 20 years to overcome 18-point deficits that late in a game. What else do the comebacks have in common? Neither team amounted to much
The 2012-13 Trail Blazers went 33-49 that season, finishing 11th in the West. The Kings improved to 28-45 with their win Sunday and are 13th in the West. The comebacks were sparked by rookies
Rookie Buddy Hield went 4-of-5 from the field in the final five minutes after starting the game 1-of-7 to lead the Kings on Sunday. In 2012, rookie Damian Lillard went 3-of-5 and scored a team-best 10 points in the final five minutes and overtime to lead the Trail Blazers' comeback. The "big shot" was a second-chance opportunity
Willie Cauley-Stein had the game-winning bucket Sunday, a putback layup off a Ben McLemore miss with three seconds left. In 2012, Luke Babbitt made a game-tying 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining off an offensive rebound. The losing team missed at the buzzer
Chris Paul missed at the buzzer Sunday. Kemba Walker missed at the buzzer at the end of regulation against the Trail Blazers in 2012.
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