What happens in the final game? Why doesn’t Jordan play? Why does Josh play?

Their dad is in the hospital dying.

The team is up and everything seems in slow motion. Coach calls a time out and there are only five seconds to go. Josh wishes the ref could stop the clock on his life. He needs just one more game, but his father is dying. He sees Jordan’s face, which his brother buries in Miss Sweet Tea. He is sobbing. The whistle blows; the clock is running down.

The Last Shot

The crowd is rumbling, rustling, and roaring. Josh is soaring to the hoop. He’s a bolt of lightning; he’s Filthy McNasty doing a McNasty cross. His shot is flowing, flying, and fluttering; finally, it swishes. Game over!