Down three points, 99-96, with 16.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter Sunday night, Cavs guard Kyrie Irving was in the unenviable position of having to create an open three-pointer with his defender, Klay Thompson, all over him beyond the arc. But he got enough daylight to get a shot away, which ripped the twine as it fell through.
Thompson is a tougher defender than he gets credit for as on-half of the Splash Brothers, and Irving had his hands full getting an open look. But Irving’s offense — a crossover, followed by the pump-fake that got Thompson to bite — was better than Thompson’s defense, and the Cavs forced OT at the Q.
But with under 20 seconds remaining in OT, and the Dubs up by two, Stephen Curry hit a step-back jumper over Anderson Varejao to effectively seal the game for Golden State. Kyrie’s regulation heroics — as they’ve increasingly been of late — were all for naught.
[Video via frank den]
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