Spurs forward Michael Finley had two options on the in-bounds play he triggered from the left sideline with three-tenths of a second remaining in Sunday's 87-85 loss to the Houston Rockets at the AT&T Center.
Both were longshots, in the horse racing sense. Finley opted for the long shot, and Matt Bonner nearly produced what would have been the most unlikely finish since Derek Fisher's shot with 0.4 seconds left gave the Lakers a one-point victory in Game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals with the Spurs.
In the 20-second timeout that followed a free throw by Houston's Luis Scola with three-tenths left, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich drew up two options: a lob for Tim Duncan, rolling from the foul line to the basket, or a pass to Bonner, coming up from the baseline, for a catch-and-shoot.
The Rockets dictated the action with their defense.
"We basically got what we drew up," Finley said. "We got the shot that we wanted in that situation. You've got to draw something where it's a lob to the basket, or a quick catch-and-shoot.
"They defended the lob to the basket, so the next best thing was the quick catch-and-shoot, and we had it."
Bonner caught Finley's pass and flicked up a high-arching 3-point attempt that was just off, an inch or two to the right and a tad strong.
Bonner slumped to the floor when the shot rolled out.
Replays showed the ball clearly out of Bonner's hand with one-tenth remaining.
Bonner and Finley thought the shot was on a perfect arc.
"It's hard to judge, because I had to catch and shoot way faster than normal," Bonner said, "but I got a good feel on the ball and had a clean look. It felt good.
"It was one of those shots that looks good and feels good but went straight off the back rim and back out."
In truth, the Spurs never should have had a chance to make the Rockets sweat out watching Bonner's shot on its way toward the rim, but Scola's inability to execute at the foul line nearly turned him from hero to goat.
Scola had chased down Tony Parker's missed shot - his 17th rebound in a game in which he also scored 19 points, including Houston's final five - and was quickly fouled by Roger Mason Jr.
By rule, three-tenths of a second must be taken off the clock after any free-throw miss before a timeout can be awarded.
Thus, Scola was sent to the line with instructions to miss the second free throw, regardless of whether he made the first.
Scola missed the first. Somehow, his line-drive second attempt went in, giving the Spurs a chance to call the timeout that produced Bonner's near-miss.
"I tried to make the first one and miss the second," Scola said. "Apparently, I'm not very good at it."
