Everybody, except maybe the less audible fans cheering for the USA in the Olympic Basketball Gymnasium, sensed that something extraordinary was happening. After seven games of very mild challenges, at best, the Americans were finally being threatened in these Games.
When Fernandez's three-pointer ripped the net, Spain was behind by only two points with eight minutes remaining in the gold medal game.
Suddenly, unbelievably, this was a struggle -- "our first test," in the words of Jazz guard Deron Williams.
The Americans responded. And far more than another 30-point blowout could have done, the 118-107 victory validated their quest to distance themselves from the bronzed disgrace of Athens four years ago, which noted historian Carmelo Anthony labeled "America's lowest point" in his reflections Sunday.
The point is, these guys had to show something under pressure in the final, and they did.
They're "champions of the world," as Williams described them, and they earned that title in the face of an inspired effort from Spain. That's what makes a gold medal meaningful: competition, and coming through.
"It brought out the best in us," said U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski, who spoke of "character" surfacing in the "adversity" of the final game.
It was hardly a triumph-amid-tragedy story to rival the U.S. men's volleyball team's achievement in Beijing, but it was impressive in its own way. There was no forecasting how the Americans would deal with having to play a fourth quarter in this tournament, when faced with every opportunity to blow the whole two weeks of play after four years of preparation.
Krzyzewski declared it "one of the greatest games in international basketball history," and he could not have missed by much. The beauty of it all was this was not a case of the Americans being off their game. Rather, it just resulted from Spain's hot shooting and refusal to go away, as every other opponent - including the Spaniards themselves, in a 37-point defeat just eight days before - had done in the third quarter, at the latest.
"They had to work for it," said Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers, who scored 20 points for Spain to support the 21 of Fernandez, who will play for Portland.
It was hard work for the U.S. players, and just plain fun for those of us wishing to watch them play one genuinely interesting game in Beijing. Spain delivered, in every way.
The first half was purely entertaining, with the Americans taking a 69-61 lead - that's 130 combined points in 20 minutes. And then it became tense.
"We had to pull through together," Dwyane Wade said. "If we would have broken off at one moment, it could have gone the other way."
After Fernandez's three-pointer, the USA answered with baskets on five straight possessions: Kobe Bryant's shot in the lane, Williams' three-pointer from the left wing, Dwight Howard's inside shot, Bryant's three via a Williams assist and LeBron James' rebound bucket.
That's the official version, a little different than the account James was offering in the postgame news conference, rattling off plays and scores while "watching the game all over again in my head," he said.
This one will be worth viewing over and over, because of Spain's challenge and the way the Americans handled it.
"It makes it that much more special," Wade said. "We dominated this tournament, and to have Spain come in and play an unbelievable game and push us to the limit. . . . If you don't like being in those games, you're not a competitor."
Wade provided one last, necessary answer, a three-pointer that made it 111-104 with 2:03 left as he finished with 27 points.
He made a funny face, posed with his hand in the air and enjoyed the moment, ridding himself and his three teammates who came back from '04 - including the Jazz's Carlos Boozer", although nobody mentions him -- of the memories.
"When it left my hand," Wade said, "I knew it was cash."
And a result, the Americans again have some currency in worldwide basketball.
