Just as Link had said, once Leonard completed that block on Anthony Davis, the game was over.
In the final 20 seconds, the Los Angeles Lakers failed to score a single point. The Clippers, meanwhile, added another two points thanks to the Lakers' intentional fouls.
The final score was 125-119. After trailing by as many as 14 points early in the fourth quarter, the Clippers somehow pulled off an unbelievable comeback with flawless execution in crunch time.
And with that block that altered the course of the entire playoffs, Leonard once again set the whole country ablaze.
Last season, he had killed the Philadelphia 76ers with a shot. This season, he killed the Lakers with a block.
After Link, Leonard had become the clutch killer people talked about most.
One by one, Lakers fans clutched their heads in disbelief at what had happened before their eyes.
After all, just over ten minutes ago, they had still been celebrating wildly. When the Lakers led the Clippers by 14, no one believed James and Davis would lose the game.
Jeanie Buss covered her mouth. She had originally thought the Lakers' next opponent would be the Grizzlies.
Little did she know, the Lakers' next opponent would be the very team they were set to face in next season's opening game!
Tears streamed down James' face. The moment the game ended, his eyes reddened, and he grabbed a towel and draped it over his head.
On the other side, however, Clippers fans and players were jumping and cheering.
Staples Center seemed split in two tonight—one half ecstatic, the other heartbroken.
Lakers fans, Jeanie Buss, James, and the rest were so devastated because they all knew that today, they had not merely lost a Western Conference semifinal series.
They had very likely lost their only