People had been waiting for the Grizzlies to suffer their first loss of March, but with Leonard's three-pointer missing, countless expectations were about to be dashed once again.
At this point, the Grizzlies and Spurs' second meeting of March had reached the final 42 seconds, with the Spurs trailing by five.
If Leonard could make this three, the Spurs would still have a chance to come back.
Just five days earlier, on March 18, the Spurs had lost to the Grizzlies. After each team played one game in the meantime, they met again.
In Durant's estimation, there was no way the Grizzlies could emerge unscathed from two straight matchups against the Spurs.
Yet today, Link had shown Durant exactly what it meant for anything to be possible.
With Leonard missing that crucial three-pointer, the Spurs fell into a passive position.
Leonard covered his head in frustration. His shooting from beyond the arc today had been an absolute disaster.
Including that last attempt, Leonard was just 1-for-5 from three-point range today.
His previous misses had not mattered much, but missing another three at such a crucial moment was truly fatal.
Link had broken out in a cold sweat as well. He knew he had been a step slow getting over on this possession and had not completely contested Leonard's shot.
Yet Leonard had failed to seize the opportunity himself.
If Link had killed the Spurs in crunch time during their previous two meetings, then today, the Spurs had died because they failed to save themselves.
The Grizzlies had not failed to give them opportunities, but the Spurs simply could not capitalize on them.
After that heart-stopping moment, Link immediately calmed himself down again.
The Grizzlies then began to run down the clock, trying to use up as much of the 24