What a Miraculous Shot!

 (一年一度的全美篮球协会(NBA)比赛已经进入半决赛。在和奥兰多魔术队的第二场比赛中，不久前评出的“最有价值球员(MVP)”、克里夫兰骑士队的年轻球员拉波浪  ∙  詹姆士不负众望，在最后一秒钟投入一个三分球，使骑士队反败为胜。 这一短文介绍的是《洛杉矶时报》体育记者描写这一历史性时刻拉波浪的“王者风范”和惊人表现。)
      

Did you watch the second game in the playoffs between the Cavaliers of Cleveland and the Orlando Magic? Turkoglou of the Magic made a good shot, keeping the Magic two points ahead of the Cavaliers and leaving the latter only one second to play. The smile on Turkoglou’s face indicated apparently that there was no hope for the Cavaliers to turn the table. They were doomed.

Miraculously, LeBron James of the Cavaliers, who received the in-bound ball from one of his teammates, succeeded in making a 3-point shot just at the buzzer. The game came to an end with the Cavaliers beating the Magic 96 to 95.

What interests me is not just the miraculous shot by LeBron James, but how an American sports writer would describe the historic shot. And here is a short paragraph from what I read in the Los Angeles Times in its Sports edition the next morning. The title of the report is “James Delivers Royally at Buzzer”:

James, an amazing player blessed with amazing grace, made a simply amazing game-winning shot at the buzzer, leading the Cavaliers to a 96-95 victory over the Magic in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

For one thing, I like the choice of the word royally for the title. It reminds me of the Chinese expression “王者风范.”It suits LeBron James well because he is the newly minted MVP (most valuable player) of NBA of this year. 

For another, I like the way the reporter repeats the word amazing again and again. James was an amazing player because few people would have expected anyone to make the successful shot at the last second – not the last minute, which wouldn’t have been surprising. He performed well beyond people’s expectations. It was a pleasant surprise. His jump shot – one can imagine the way he jumped and shot – was seemingly effortless but beautifully perfect, hence “amazing grace.”   And the decisive shot, which turned the table on Orlando Magic at the buzzer, was truly surprising.

By the way, “amazing grace” is a term Christians are familiar with: it is used to describe God’s grace. In Chinese, it is “奇异恩典.”Almost every Christian can give testimonies to God’s grace, which often exceeds one’s expectations.