It was the shot heard round the world.
Vince Carter’s performance in the 2000 NBA All-Star Game slam dunk competition is the most iconic moment in Toronto Raptors franchise history, but Kawhi Leonard’s game-winning basket in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers is — as of this moment — the franchise’s most incredible play.
Eighteen years after Carter missed a playoff-series-clinching buzzer beater against Philadelphia, Leonard dribbled into the corner of the floor at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday night with the game tied 90-90 and heaved a last-second rainbow of a shot that hit the rim and bounced up and down three more times before the ball finally went in.
Raptors 92, 76ers 90. Bedlam.
Fans inside and outside the arena, and across the country, exploded into celebration, as did Leonard — uncharacteristically — as his teammates mobbed him.
Leonard was the biggest difference maker on Sunday and in the series, averaging an outstanding 34.7 points and 11.2 rebounds per game.
Without “The Claw,” the Raptors would not be going to the NBA’s Eastern Conference final against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.
Leonard’s game winner not only sends Toronto to the East Final — which, by the way, begins Wednesday in Milwaukee — it erases the memory of the last two series sweeps at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers and the painful feeling we felt after Carter’s missed shot in 2001.
What made Leonard’s game winner even more unreal was that everyone knew who was going to attempt the final shot, and he still got it off and in.
I’m not sure Leonard’s clutch bucket can ever be topped. But if it is, it would have to be some kinda shot and on an even bigger stage.