WASHINGTON — We study every breakdown, every angle in sports these days. The more we know, the more we can predict what happens. That’s what we tell ourselves, anyway. And then something like Thursday night’s Warriors-Pelicans game happens, and we tear it all up and start over.

The Warriors are the top team in the Western Conference, after putting together a historically great season en route to a 67-15 record. They are a very good basketball team. That they should beat the eight seed is expected, even when the eight seed sport’s one of the league’s best players in Anthony Davis, and even when the game is on the road.

But when that team — any team — trails by 20 points headed to the fourth quarter, expectations dim dramatically. It’s hard to pick exactly what the craziest part about Golden State’s remarkable comeback was, so we’ll just list all of them and let you choose for yourself.