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Buzzer beater
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In basketball, a buzzer beater is a shot taken just before the game clock of a period expires, when the buzzer sounds and the backboard lights up. The term is normally reserved for baskets that win or tie the game at the last moment. If a player releases the ball "beating" the buzzer, so that it sounds while the ball is in mid-air, the shot still counts if it goes in. Often, a buzzer beating shot will be released from long range (even from beyond half court), making for a spectacular play when it connects.
Officials in the NCAA, NBA, Serie A (Italy), and Euroleague (Final Four series only, effective 2006) are required to use instant replay to assess whether a basket made at the end of a period was in fact released before the game clock expired. Since 2002, the NBA also has mandated duplicate light strips on both the backboard and on the scorer's table for the purpose of identifying the end of period.
Although buzzer beaters are fairly common, several instances have been recognised as special occasions:
- In Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals, Jerry West sank an incredible desperation final-second 60-foot shot to tie the game at 102-102. However, his Los Angeles Lakers still lost against the New York Knicks in overtime, 108-111.[1]
- In Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics stole an inbounds pass from Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons, passed it to Dennis Johnson, who converted a layup as time expired for a 108-107 win.[2]
- In Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals, 6-feet-9-inch Magic Johnson of the Lakers drained a last-second hook shot over the outstretched hands of 7-0 Robert Parish and 6-10 Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtics, winning the game 107-106.[3]
- On May 7 1989, Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls got an inbounds pass with three seconds left, sprinted to the top of the key with defenders hounding him, and launched a last-second shot over Craig Ehlo of the Cleveland Cavaliers to sink The Shot, lifting his Bulls over the Cavaliers with 101-100.[4]
- In the 1995 NBA Playoffs, Nick Van Exel of the Los Angeles Lakers drained a three-point shot with 0.5 seconds remaining to a 98-96 win over the San Antonio Spurs.[5]
- In Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Western Conference Finals, John Stockton of the Utah Jazz buried a three-pointer as time expired, lifting his Jazz over the Houston Rockets with 103-100 and taking the series 4-2.[6]
- In the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2004 NBA Playoffs, the Lakers were trailing the San Antonio Spurs with 0.4 seconds left and the ball at halfcourt after a timeout. Derek Fisher of the Lakers caught the ball and incredibly scored the last points of the miraculous 74-73 win.[7]
- On December 9, 2004 The Houston Rockets were trailing the San Antonio Spurs when Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets scored 13 points mainly on 3's (1 free throw off a foul by Tim Duncan while attempting a 3) in 35 seconds to win 81-80.
- ^ http://www.nba.com/history/mrclutch_moments.html
- ^ http://www.nba.com/history/birdsteal_moments.html
- ^ http://www.nba.com/history/magichook_moments.html
- ^ http://www.nba.com/history/jordancav_moments.html
- ^ http://www.nba.com/history/1995heroics_moments.html
- ^ http://www.nba.com/history/97buzzer_moments.html
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=240513024