#clutch-performance

#clutch-performance

Cleveland fans made Harden immediately feel welcome. The Cavaliers handed out beards on a stick to the sellout crowd, and Harden got a standing ovation when he was introduced in pregame warmups. "The crowd is always crazy. Every time I come here as a visitor, they're crazy about you know, the Cavs and The Land and very loyal and they show up every single night," he said. "It's one of the things that I was mostly excited about. So tonight was no different."

But after a pair of blowouts to get them to the championship, the finale put a bright spotlight on their ability of execute in the clutch. Just one dumb slip-up could have cost them their fairytale ending, but everything went right in the big moments, all the way through to the Carson Beck interception that sealed the win.

It wasn't exactly the shot that Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted, but, then, all he really wanted was the last shot. Everyone knew this, Antetokounmpo most of all: when the game clock started to wind down, he would have the ball. And so, with fifteen seconds left in Monday night's game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers, and the score tied, he backed down a Pacers defender, then spun into a fadeaway as the buzzer sounded.

Francisco Alvarez's ability to work an at-bat was a good sign, allowing him to make good swing decisions that initiated the late-game rally.