Link: 53 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.
Klay Thompson: 49 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.
Looking only at the stats and the close score, people would surely have assumed this was a scoring duel between Link and Thompson—a life-or-death showdown in which Thompson had merely fallen narrowly short of Link.
But in reality, the two had not given off that feeling of trading baskets at all. Although Thompson's stats were impressive, every fan who had watched the game came away with the same impression—Thompson had been completely outclassed.
In terms of scoring alone, Thompson had not been that far behind Link. He had nearly put up 50 points himself, and his performance could hardly have been called anything but outstanding.
Moreover, Thompson's shooting percentage had even been higher than Link's.
But the main reason people felt Thompson had been completely outclassed was that, in crunch time, Link had completely outperformed him.
Fans always remembered the crucial moments of a game most clearly. No matter how well a player performed beforehand, if he disappeared in the clutch, people would forget him.
Thompson's brilliant performance had mainly come in the first half, but even his godlike display then had failed to put away the Grizzlies.
Without a doubt, fans remembered the player who killed the game far more vividly.
Less than half an hour after the game ended, the entire world went crazy.
The video of Link's drifting fadeaway that killed the game at the buzzer saw its views multiply by the second!
In China, countless classrooms and offices suddenly erupted with cheers early in the morning.
Nearly every sports television channel kept replaying Link's game-winner on a loop.
Erasing a 21-point deficit, crushing another opponent who had performed miraculously, firmly holding onto first place in the West...