NBA: The Basketball Miracle

On March 9, 1996, the NCAA Big East Conference championship game was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The No. 2 seed Georgetown Hoyas and the top seed Connecticut Huskies met in the final.

After the game kicked off at 9 p.m. that night, cheers filled the stadium. In addition to the die-hard fans of the two teams, local fans also bought tickets to show their support.

A reporter from the New York Times promoted the game extensively before the match, and ESPN, as the broadcaster, sent out two well-known commentators, Dill Vitale and Sean McDonald.

The reason why this Big East Conference final has attracted so much attention is mainly because both teams have extremely popular star players.

"Defense! Defense! Defense!"

The fans of the Georgetown Hoyas, who have reached the Big East Championship four times in six years, are shouting excitedly at this time. They are getting closer and closer to victory!

Clay Lee, who is sitting on the bench of the University of Connecticut, looks normal on the surface, but he is a little depressed in his heart.

(A/N: MC - Clay Lee)

Even the chosen one who cheats can't stand the whistle!

Tonight, he faced Allen Iverson and fell into a foul crisis too early, so he could only sit on the bench.

Allen Iverson, wearing a black jersey, with a short flat head, thick eyebrows and big eyes, was in high spirits. When he saw Ricky Moore on the opposite side quickly advancing across half court, he immediately chose to move forward to defend him.

On the left wing, Ricky Moore moved sideways to protect the ball and approached the three-point line despite Iverson's defense.

In the right corner, Connecticut Huskies star player Ray Allen and the opponent's rookie player Victor Page were entangled. The two pulled each other and quickly cut from right to left to the three-second zone.

Ray Allen, looking anxious, quickly shot out from the center with the help of his center teammate Travis Knight's cover.

Ray Allen's 2.13-meter tall stature played a role. He broke free from the defense, came to the top of the arc, and successfully received the pass from his teammate.

At this time, Allen Iverson rushed to Ray Allen's left side to assist in defense. At the same time, rookie Victor Page also chased up to defend.

Facing the double-team defense, Ray Allen did not hesitate at all. He released the ball with his right hand and broke through. With his outstanding explosive power, he rushed to the inside while hanging on the defense.

"oh!!"

There was a sudden cry of surprise in Madison Square Garden. Surrounded by three people, Georgetown Hoyas center Osta Tiger slapped Ray Allen to the ground with a palm in the paint area.

The referee blew the whistle immediately. The 2.08-meter-tall, 113-kilogram black fat man Osta-Tiger didn't care at all. He even punched, roared, and laughed to celebrate.

This move caused several players on the University of Connecticut Huskies to be a little upset.

A conflict immediately broke out between the two sides, shouting, pulling, and pushing each other. The referee saw that something was wrong and immediately rushed over to separate everyone.

At this time, the score was 60:47, and the Georgetown Hoyas led by 13 points.

With only 4 minutes left in the second half, the game seemed to be losing suspense.

The fans of the University of Connecticut in the stadium stood up subconsciously, and everyone looked at Ray Allen who had just crawled up from the floor.

Ray Allen rubbed his wrist, showing a painful expression and shook his head at his teammates, then he let out a long sigh and stood at the free throw line.

Cheers rang out again. Jim Calhoun, the head coach of the University of Connecticut, restrained his ferocious expression, stopped complaining to the referee, and turned to the bench and shouted:

"Lee! Get ready to play, we need to score! The game isn't over yet!"

Clay Lee, who was sitting on the bench, immediately threw away the towel from his shoulder and walked to the technical table with a calm expression.

In the commentary booth, Dill Vitale saw that the University of Connecticut was preparing to make a substitution, touched his bald head, and immediately said loudly:

"Is Cool boy going to save the team again? I like Lee's performance this season, but it's a little too late."

"Coach Calhoun is still a little conservative. He should have made substitutions earlier."

Sean McDonald also felt that time was running out:

"Time is on Georgetown's side, Iverson completely controlled the game tonight!"

When Allen Iverson saw Clay Lee come on the court, he immediately curled his lips. He didn't like this sophomore player in the same grade as him at all.

In the two years since entering college, the two players from the Big East Conference have frequently faced off, and he has never won once.

The noise in Madison Square Garden became louder and louder, and Georgetown fans tried to interfere with Ray Allen who was shooting free throws.

"Hey! Are you ready to watch us win the championship live!?"

Standing outside the three-point line, Iverson raised his voice, held his head high with a proud smile, and showed off the championship he was about to win to Clay Lee.

"Crybaby still hasn't learned his lesson!"

After whispering a mockery, Lee ignored Iverson and took advantage of Ray Allen making both free throws to immediately rush to his teammates on the court and make tactical gestures.

As if recalling the unlucky days of his freshman year, Iverson's smile immediately disappeared.

The short flat hair style typical of this era did not reduce Lee's appearance. His bright eyes, youthful face and mature temperament were very impressive.

After seeing the tactical gestures from his old partner, Ray Allen felt completely relieved. While quickly retreating, he also loudly called on his teammates to pay attention to defense. He believed that there was still a chance in the game.

Even though the NCAA shot clock has been shortened from 45 to 35 seconds in an effort to keep the game pure, the pace is still slow.

Amid the cheers of Georgetown fans, Iverson slowly dribbled across half court. They were currently leading by 11 points and had the initiative.

Head coach John Thompson on the sidelines loudly reminded his players to stay calm.

Iverson heard the coach's instructions, came to the top of the arc, and immediately passed the ball to George Butler on the right wing outside the three-point line.

The 1.88-meter-tall senior black guard has more game experience. After receiving the pass, he immediately signaled center Osta-Tiger to take position in the low post on the right.

The Georgetown Hoyas have run this same play many times.

At the moment when Osta-Tiger received the ball, Clay Lee, who was originally chasing Iverson and cutting inside the middle without the ball, suddenly gave up on his defender.

While his teammate center Knight was blocking his opponent, he quickly came to Osta-Tiger's side and cut the ball with his right hand.

"Bang!"

The basketball bounced to the floor and was then snatched away by Lee. The fans of the University of Connecticut at the scene shouted excitedly. If the opponent was allowed to waste another 35 seconds, the game would be over.

The noisy noise in Madison Square Garden did not affect Lee. Holding the ball in his left hand, he quickly advanced along the left sideline.

George Butler, who was chasing and defending, kept making small moves. Lee, who is 1.91 meters tall, did not have a physical advantage, but his physical agility was better.

Approaching the left wing, Clay Lee began to bend his hips to slow down, lowering his body's center of gravity while moving the ball under his hips with his left hand, changing his dribbling rhythm and leaning his body suddenly to the left front.

Although Lee's explosive power is not outstanding, his sudden stop and start in the transition offense still made George Butler next to him subconsciously slide to the right rear.

Noticing the opponent's defensive movement, Lee immediately crossed over and pulled back, instantly returning to the three-point line. George Butler, who wanted to change the focus of defense, was shaken and completely lost his defensive position.

"oh!!"

The fancy shake caused an outburst of exclamations in Madison Square Garden.

What made the New York fans feel even more outrageous was that Clay Lee did not take advantage of the opponent's loss of balance to break into the inside line, but quickly gathered the ball outside the three-point line, and threw it directly after the basketball was raised above his head!

Iverson, who had just retreated to the three-point line, watched the basketball fall straight into the basket and enter the net, and couldn't help but curse:

"Fuck! Another damn three-pointer!"