Explaining The Wild Thunder-Spurs Finish, Starring Dion Waiters

Good morning, East Coast. Here's what you missed in last night's Wild, Wild West finish.

The Thunder led the Spurs, 98-97, with 13.5 seconds left in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals in San Antonio. Oklahoma City entered the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, never trailed in the quarter and reached a largest lead of nine points.

But OKC nearly blew the game at the end. With Dion Waiters inbounding on the final sequence, a series of events went unnoticed.

1. Waiters practically assaults Manu Ginobili. With ball in hand, Waiters shoves the 38-year-old four-time NBA champion.

2. Don't vindicate Ginobili quite yet. He appears to step out of bounds while guarding the Waiters inbound, a violation that could have also been called.

3. Despite getting away with his push, Waiters throws the inbound pass into traffic and Danny Green strips Durant. Green passes to Patty Mills, who dishes to Ginobili. Ginobili drives and kicks out to Mills, who bricks a shot. The rebound turns into a loose ball and the Thunder hang on. Russell Westbrook erupts in joy.

4. Meanwhile, Thunder center Steven Adams, who rushed out to the perimeter to contest the Mills shot, is engulfed by the San Antonio crowd. A fan latches onto Adams' arm with about three seconds remaining.

On paper, the Thunder won, 98-97. But in the early morning hours in Texas, game lead referee Ken Mauer issued a statement on the missed Waiters offensive foul:

This will not save Twitter from burning the missed call on the court, which still decided the outcome of the game.

Look at that smile on Waiters:

The two coaches had very different reactions to end of the game. Gregg Popovich pretty much says the referees were bad and his team has to move on:

Billy Donovan acts like he has no idea what is going on:

Did you know Donovan was once a Wall Street stock broker? Now you do. Although he sounds more like a defense lawyer.

Ginobili was a pro about the incident and makes a good point. His team did get the ball and had a shot to win the game. They got the steal. In fact, a Spurs inbound would have meant the Thunder would be able to set up on defense as opposed to the Spurs getting out in transition.

Simply put, this was crazy, and the series is now 1-1 going to OKC. The Thunder escaped a meltdown and have life. Game 3 tips Friday.

-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.