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Bounce.
We did not go there. A basketball, at least in the sporting order, is relatively predictable. It's not like a baseball, which has seams that, in the hand of the thrower or when they avoid certain imperfections of the dirt at the bottom of the field, can do pretty wild things; not like a football, which is designed to be aerodynamic, but when on the ground will bounce at random; certainly not like a puck, which can become strange when on board. A basketball is simple. It does not help players to do what he wants, but after decades of playing or watching the sport, you usually know where the ball is going. And all the evidence of life accumulated was clear: a bullet that hits the edge of the rim, with this bow and with as much speed, bounces. History and physics promise it en masse.
"Ah, it does not look too good," Danny Green recalls, thinking from his point of view on the bench.
So the Raptors-Sixers match 7 was going to be extended, and that would have been fascinating. The Sixers' offense was down – they scored five points and one goal on the field in the 5:47 final – and Joel Embiid was obviously gassed. Kawhi Leonard made 39 shots, a record high among the players in the game 7 regulation, and for much of the fourth quarter, was The Toronto offensive. But in the last minute of the match, he missed a free kick and now seemed to have missed a second disputed jumper. Overtime would have meant trading for someone, and that would be the second most spectacular way to close a tight match in a tight series. The first goal would have been if Leonard's shot, an attempt by the first drummer of the seventh match in NBA history, would have been effective. this did not seem likely.
Except…
Bounce.
A typical basic shot is doomed to failure if it strikes the front of the rim, either because it is getting closer to the shooter or it is jumping completely out of the way. on top of the cylinder. But Leonard was not a typical shot. It was a high shot, done on purpose. "I just knew I had to shoot high," said Leonard. "Some goods before that, I had the same kind of shooting at three and I ended up being nil. I just thought I had to ride it higher than that. Even more immediate, Leonard had Joel Embiid, one meter ninety. So, just to make sure he cleared Embiid's outstretched arm, a rainbow was needed.
And so, the shot had hit the rim at the exact unlikely angle to send it straight up and, most importantly, to reverse the rotation of the ball by giving it the slightest flip. So now, when he fell off the top of the back panel, he still hit the front of the rim, but this time he bounced forward, just a little, but enough for Green to rethink everything.
"The second bounce," Green remembered, was "Oh shit, we could have a chance here. "
Bounce.
The second bounce had carried the bullet through the diameter of the hoop, to ricochet from the inside of the far edge of the edge. It was enough to stop his momentum forward and to deflect the ball, but again, almost straight, the first rebound, replayed in miniature. The result was still very uncertain, but every rebound deprives the balloon of its linear moment and its angular momentum. It was in the process of being installed.
But my god, it took a long time.
From the moment the ball left Leonard's hand until it finally fell, it took more than three seconds; the rebound alone took 1.9 seconds. So many happened at this time. Leonard ends up crouching in the corner, out of bounds, tongue between his lips, just looking. Embiid was above him and leaned over to see the edge better.
Serge Ibaka, more instinctive than anything else, was trying to position himself to take a rebound, but there was simply nothing to take. "I do not know if you've seen the video," Ibaka said after the match. "I tried to be ready for an offensive rebound, but every time the ball continues to bounce, I try to jump. You know? It was amazing, man. "
The crowd did not move. Watch them as you watch the video for the 400th time; a frozen wall of white gift shirts. Perhaps there was a barely perceptible inclination towards the front, but no body language indicated an imminent celebration or a heartbreak. Nobody knew. Until the next and last …
Bounce.
Now, you knew. The final rebound, still inside the far edge of the rim (from Leonard's point of view), slightly toward the back panel. The physics of basketball was back on a known field. You knew it was ok, but you did not have time to do anything with this information.
Try something. When you watch the video of the plan for the 401st time, close your eyes. Just listening to her, from beginning to end. It tells the whole story.
You can hear the rebounds, and after the first rebound, there is an exhale of disappointment. Under most angles of the building, it was impossible to see that the bullet had deviated straight up. Most fans have assumed that it bounces at a given angle – a reasonable assumption, because that's what happens 99 out of 100.
You can hear the ringtone stop. It stops before the ball falls for a second bounce. It has already taken a long time and there is still a lot to do.
You can hear the crowd realizing, gradually and then all of a sudden, what's going on. the awwwws turn to ohhhhhhs Twenty thousand people inadvertently vocalize what the brain has time to treat but not translate into words.
You can hear Kevin Harlan dissolve into this same inarticulate jubilation: OHHHH! This expression of purest enthusiasm – what could the words have said better? – and the comic pause that preceded it makes a call that will live forever.
And so, swish, finally. A dagger late.
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