自從NBA的播映權被中資集團掠奪後，今季都沒有好好享受過一場比賽。開季馬刺勝勇士那一仗應該是很精采的，但那天又忍不住預先看了賽果。
由第二節才開始觀看這一場比賽，當時馬刺已經落後兩位數字，最遠差距更曾擴展至16分。感覺上很久沒有見過馬刺從落後形勢下奇跡逆轉，可能是絕殺的回憶特別沉痛而深刻吧。
除了這30秒外，TP的三個救命三分球也十分關鍵。不論季後賽首輪對灰熊還是雷霆，馬刺都必須全員健康及發揮最高水準才能過關。
With the Rockets holding onto a 108-107 lead and just over 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Leonard dribbled above the 3-point arc, guarded by Houston swingman Trevor Ariza. Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge raced up to set a high screen, prompting Rockets big man Nene to step out and try to corral Leonard off the bounce. As Leonard dribbled to the left wing, he got closer to a second Rockets defender, guard Eric Gordon, who briefly lunged toward Kawhi’s dribble as Nene took one step too many back toward the paint, leaving Leonard just enough room to rise and fire unmolested.
He drilled the pull-up triple with 25.4 seconds left, giving San Antonio a 110-108 lead and leaving Manu Ginobili in the midst of an out-of-body experience on the Spurs’ bench.
The Rockets still had an opportunity to tie or re-take the lead, though, which meant Leonard’s work wasn’t done.
He picked up Harden at half-court, bounced off the back-pick Nene set on the Spurs logo to try to spring Harden free headed downhill, and hustled to stay with the play as Harden gained separation sprinting to the cup. Spurs big man David Lee found himself in the unenviable position of having to slow Harden with a full head of steam and without fouling — though that’s not how Harden remembers it — and he managed to do just that, giving just enough ground to steer clear of contact and stalling Harden just enough to allow Leonard to hit the lane, time his jump, and absolutely demolish Harden’s layup attempt off the backboard with just under 21 seconds remaining.
Nene grabbed the loose ball, but found himself in a thicket of arms, with Leonard, Aldridge and Danny Green all harassing him. Aldridge blocked his putback attempt, and Leonard came away with the rebound, dribbling free of traffic and forcing the Rockets to foul him. With the San Antonio faithful in full throat and raining down “M-V-P!” chants from the rafters, Leonard calmly splashed his two freebies, extending San Antonio’s lead to four with 14 seconds left in regulation.
After a timeout, the Rockets went for a quick two, with Gordon hitting Nene rolling to the rim for a dunk to cut the deficit to two with 10.6 seconds left. From there, it seemed academic — foul immediately on the inbounds, extend the game, make the Spurs hit their free throws, and hope to get lucky on the other end.
Except …
… it didn’t work out that way.
Nene and Harden chased Leonard around the backcourt, but never actually made contact for the foul, allowing Leonard to cut back toward his own basket and rag some more time off the clock. Realizing he was getting close to an eight-second violation, Leonard then lofted the ball up into the frontcourt, where Aldridge came down with the fade, kept the ball high over his head away from Rockets guard Patrick Beverley, and tossed it over to Ginobili as Beverley did his damnedest to generate a foul call with a two-hand shove to Aldridge’s chest.
No whistle blew. Spurs win, 112-110.
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