The lights came on, and the whistle sounded.
Wang Yi tipped the ball in at the last second.
115–115. Tied!
But it wasn't over yet. When Wang Yi jumped into the air, Mitchell and Morant fouled him, so he was awarded one more free throw.
At such a crucial moment, this one point could change the course of the entire game.
So the referees proceeded with great caution, reviewing the game footage.
They replayed that sequence no fewer than seven times.
Only then did they decide to call Morant for a shooting foul on Wang Yi.
In fact, when Morant fouled Wang Yi, Wang Yi had just started to jump but hadn't yet gotten the ball. Under the rules, fouling a player without the ball in the final two minutes results in a technical foul.
So they could have called a technical foul on that play as well.
But Wang Yi was somewhere between having control of the ball and not having control of it, so either calling or not calling a technical foul was acceptable.
Whether they called a technical foul on that play would have made little difference to the outcome.
Wang Yi still had to shoot one free throw.
At most, if it had been a technical foul, Morant would have had to cough up $25,000.
But $25,000 was nothing to him.
What happened next was a rare sight on the court.
With all 48 minutes of regulation time gone and the red lights around the backboard already lit, Wang Yi stepped to the free-throw line to take his shot.
At that moment, almost every Grizzlies and Kings fan felt their heart racing.
One free throw would decide the fate of both teams.
Would Wang Yi make it?
Wang Yi stepped to the free-throw line as he