After Dauding made the shot, the Raptors were up by one.
There was only 1 minute and 42 seconds left.
Even though they were playing at the Jazz's Devil's Home Court, the fans' raucous cheering had grown much, much quieter than it had been at the start of the game.
The Jazz head coach wanted to call a timeout to talk things over, but he saw the Raptors players gasping for breath, dragging their feet and looking utterly exhausted. In the end, he gritted his teeth and didn't call one.
So the game continued.
This time, Horton Tucker used a backdoor cut to briefly shake Wang Yi, then took the ball and drove straight into the paint.
Wang Yi chased after him from behind, so Horton Tucker naturally didn't dare go for a layup. He passed straight to Keegan Murray, who was cutting in from the side.
Keegan Murray jumped from just over two meters away from the basket. Dauding hurriedly leaped to block him, but Keegan Murray twisted in midair and pulled off a full-circle reverse layup.
Keegan Murray showed off his full athletic potential on that play.
He pushed his core strength to the limit.
Tucking his head and shoulders, he slipped completely beneath Dauding, then spun all the way around and laid the ball in from the other side.
But just as he raised his hand to shoot, a figure suddenly lunged in from the right corner.
A huge hand came down like a fan and swatted the ball out of bounds.
It was none other than Hachimura.
At such a crucial moment, every point mattered. Hachimura's defensive play gave the Raptors a huge boost, and his teammates rushed over to slap hands with him.
Wang Yi roared, "Murasan, the cherry blossoms are blooming at your house!"