After going in 1-1 at the break, Defoe looked to have earned Spurs the win they needed to move into fourth when he dispatched a 20-yard shot that beat Scott Carson to bring up his 100th top-flight strike.
The goal was also the 28-year-old's 100th goal for Spurs but his party was spoiled by the best strike of the game - a delightful lob from West Brom substitute Simon Cox that earned the Baggies a point, leaving Harry Redknapp's men a point behind Manchester City, who play their game in hand against Blackburn on Monday.
Defoe is currently enduring his worst season at White Hart Lane. He has found the net eight times and only three of those strikes have come in the Barclays Premier League. He had been stuck on 99 since the start of March and had sought the advice of Ferdinand - a man who racked up 149 goals during a 20-year professional career before taking on the role of Spurs strikers' coach in 2008.
"I sat down with Les and had a little chat with him. He knows me well," Defoe explained. "He said he'd been through bad patches in his career before and sometimes if you want something bad it never comes. He said to me: 'Just keep going, play the game, try not to think about it and it will come. Just be Jermain Defoe'."
Source: PA
Source: PA