Story of an unpublished plug: when Kawhi Leonard's middle finger decided the match

• Celtics One step away from eliminating the champion

In the individual photo album of each NBA star there are a handful of iconic images.

left a stamp for history during the 2019 playoffs, with that impossible shot that bounced four times at the rim and gave the Raptors - ultimately champions - the victory in the seventh of the conference semifinals against the Sixers.

On Monday, a very different action crowned him as what he has been for a long time, perhaps the most complete player in the world.

The Nuggets were bidding for the comeback, in a fireworks duel, in which

had been marveling.

Jamal Murray, one of the proper names in the playoffs, threw himself for the hoop furiously, six down for Denver, less than two minutes into the game.

"I saw him penetrate. So I took a step forward and tried to stop him," Leonard described his work, the Californian always sparing in words.

He prefers to express himself on the court: "If he doesn't speak to us, you are not going to pretend that he speaks in front of a lot of journalists," Tim Duncan joked years ago, when the very young forward began to be decisive in the Spurs: with 22 years and 350 days he became the youngest Finals MVP since Magic Johnson in 1982.

The guard of the Nuggets found in his attempt to kill with an unexpected element.

plugged Mike Malone's action and options.

The Clippers won Game 3 (107-113) and already lead 2-1 in the West semifinal.

Although what was talked about was the viral image of an unpublished cap.

The play for the memory has its explanation.

Not only in Leonard's defensive resources, always decisive in decisive moments.

There is no NBA star who has not suffered.

His versatility had for everyone:

There is a physical element that also influenced.

Kahwi's hands.

Infinite

At a forward size (2.01 meters), the wingspan

is greater than that of many centers (2.20).

But what is really out of the ordinary is the size of his hands (25 centimeters long, 29 between thumb and little finger fully extended), which exceed the perimeter of a basketball.

The object of jokes ... and fears, Kawhi is called 'The Claw' (The Claw).

"It's an extra long middle finger. It's as if it keeps growing. That's Kawhi," said

, the other star of the night, with five triples and 32 points, finally completely decisive in the Clippers, also with his defense at the Murray himself.

"It was an amazing play. I don't know where Kawhi came from. I just thought it was a plug. I didn't know it was a finger. It was awesome," Doc Rivers hallucinated.

Beyond the stopper, Leonard added

, forgetting his previous bad night, when the Nuggets managed to leave him at 13 points.

Because Kawhi is not only a defensive vein, obviously.

Leonard, always away from the media focus of the other great stars of the League, fights against history without having reached the age of 30.

He was champion with the Spurs and the Raptors last year, MVP of the finals in 2014 and 2019. In the Clippers who never conquered the glory, who so many times saw the Los Angeles neighbor, he was recruited for that mission.

They have never even played a conference final.

Now only two victories separate them.

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