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Hardwood Highlight of the Night: Patterson threads the needle, Hansbrough finishes

John E. Sokolowski / USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors were nowhere near their best in a lethargic game at Madison Square Garden that ended in an overtime victory, but they finally seemed to wake up and make their run towards the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth.

This beautiful pass from Patrick Patterson to Tyler Hansbrough, which resulted in one of Hansbrough's two made field goals on the night, was the highlight of that second half run.

Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how that highlight came to be.

With Greivis Vasquez handling the ball, the play starts as what looks like a horns set, with Patterson and Hansbrough coming up to set screens in the high post, although Patterson doesn't actually set a screen.

Instead, Patterson heads to the perimeter on the right side, James Johnson moves from the right to the left, and Lou Williams is about to swing from the right corner to the left.

Then Hansbrough moves up to set the screen for Vasquez.

After coming off the Hansbrough screen, Vasquez finds Patterson behind the arc, while Psycho T stops his roll at the free throw line.

Once Amar'e Stoudemire steps up to take space away from Patterson, who was 3-of-4 from 3-point range in this game and has shot the 3 better than 44 percent on the season, Hansbrough senses the opportunity and moves into the space Stoudemire has vacated.

Patterson isn't left with much space to hit Hansbrough's moving target, but he threads the pass through Stoudemire and Quincy Acy with pinpoint precision. That pass leaves Hansbrough with the option of finishing the play himself or finding Williams open in the corner, as Shane Larkin has helped off Williams to provide some help in the paint.

In a game that went down to the wire and then some, every basket obviously counted. This one just happens to be one of the prettiest ones in an otherwise sloppy affair.

(Courtesy: MSG)

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