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Talking the business of sports

If you've watched an NBA game, you've probably seen it. A quick, unexpected turnover sends the arena's floor cleaners running off the court at breakneck speeds to narrowly avoid a collision. It always makes you wonder, what would happen if they were unable to get out of the way? Well, during the Minnesota Timberwolves' 138-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night, we found out.

With just over two minutes left in the third quarter, Wolves guard Jordan McLaughlin picked up a steal near halfcourt, and headed toward the basket for what looked like an open fast-break layup. McLaughlin ran into an unexpected surprise at the free throw line, however, as he crashed directly into a member of the OKC staff, who was cleaning up a wet spot on the floor and apparently failed to notice that the action was headed their way.

Wolves guard D'Angelo Russell collected the offensive rebound, but -- perhaps because of all the commotion -- was unable to get the put-back to go down, and Minnesota came up empty on the trip.

we playing 7 on 5 right now?? 😳 pic.twitter.com/dfivaW0Twf

If you listen to the clip, you can hear the announcers calling for a technical foul, but play never stopped. This is similar to when an NBA official inadvertently gets hit by the basketball during live play -- they're considered part of the game unless they're standing out of bounds.

It was a strange and hilarious play, and fortunately it didn't affect the final score because the Wolves went on to cruise for an easy victory. But let this be a warning to floor cleaners everywhere: Keep your head on a swivel!

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