NBA Finals 2017: 5 most memorable moments

3. Kevin Durant’s ‘Hand Down, Man Down’ dagger

51.9 seconds left in Game 3. The Cavaliers were up two and looking to climb back into the series and make it 2-1. Kevin Durant had different ideas in his mind. He grabbed the board off of a Kyle Korver miss and was off to the races. The Easy Money Sniper sprinted down the left wing and rose up for a 3-pointer.

LeBron James had a poor contest and as ESPN’s Mark Jackson often says, “hand down, man down!” Just like that, the Warriors had a one-point lead and the Cavaliers looked broken and defeated.

This is one of those shots that’ll be featured on ABC’s NBA Finals pregame video or Kevin Durant’s Hall of Fame introduction. It might not have been the most important shot in Durant’s career, but it’ll be one that cements his status as one of NBA’s greatest players ever.

Every NBA great has a signature moment in the NBA Finals that’ll be remembered by fans till eternity. Michael Jordan’s flu game, LeBron James’ block on Andre Iguodala and now Kevin Durant’s dagger to put Golden State up 3-0.

In the moment, it might not have seemed like a huge shot, but imagine if the Cavaliers take Games 3 and 4 at home. All the pressure shifts to Golden State and who knows if Kevin Durant could’ve recovered and won his first NBA Championship.

The questions that Golden State had to face all year about “who gets the last shot on this team?” were silenced with one long-range stroke by Kevin Durant. It’ll be a play that forever remains etched in the minds of Golden State fans, no matter how old they become.