On the final possession of the first quarter, the Grizzlies had the ball.
By then, the fans inside Oracle Arena had already fallen silent.
Their emotions had been like a roller coaster. That morning, they had been roaring about winning the entire series and making their mark in the Finals.
But now, they were starting to worry whether they could even survive today—survive the torment of an injured player.
Link controlled the ball beyond the three-point line, with an utterly exhausted Draymond Green in front of him.
Green had played the entire quarter just to defend Link.
In the regular season, playing an entire quarter might have been nothing unusual for a player. But playing a full quarter in a game of this intensity consumed more stamina than ordinary people could imagine.
Large beads of sweat dripped from Green's chin onto the hardwood. He knew he had to stop Link now. If he couldn't, everything would fall apart.
Link slowly approached with the ball, and he could sense Green's fear. His eyes, his body language, his heavy breathing—everything revealed Green's emotions.
The corner of Link's mouth curled up slightly. This guy was nothing but a paper tiger now.
The clock above the backboard ticked away. Link glanced at the numbers, then suddenly accelerated!
Green quickly retreated. Lateral movement alone wasn't enough to stop Link immediately. The only way to defend him was to stay glued to his side, interfere with him, and force him to slow down.
Just as Link was about to blow completely past Green's defense, he suddenly paused and slammed on the brakes!
Green knew Link too well. He knew what Link was trying to do—this was one of his favorite moves.
This guy wanted to pull up for a step-back jumper!
Green immediately shifted his weight