Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did two things when he sank two free throws with 13.2 seconds remaining in Game 1 between his Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets. First, and most importantly in the moment,

Oklahoma City repeatedly “fouled up three” in the closing seconds, and Denver rallied for a stunning victory to open the Western Conference semifinals.

The Thunder tried playing it safe — and it led to the worst-case scenario. With the Thunder leading by three points in the final seconds of Game 1, head coach Mark Daigneault went with a popular strategy in today’s NBA: Intentionally fouling so the opposition has no chance of getting off a game-tying 3-point attempt.