There's few things more exciting than a superstar like Michael Jordan or Damian Lillard clinching a playoff game with a buzzer beater, but there's also something immensely satisfying and unexpected about role players getting their moment to shine on the league's biggest stage.
1) Derek Fisher, 2004 Conference Semifinals, Lakers vs. Spurs, Game 5
The '03-'04 regular season was a difficult one for Fisher, who lost his starting point guard job to veteran free agent Gary Payton. But coach Phil Jackson opted to rely on three-guard sets more in the playoffs, granting Fisher heavier minutes, especially in crunch time. The crunchiest time of all came in game five of a second round series against the defending champion Spurs, which was even at two games apiece. With 0.4 seconds left in the game, Tim Duncan hit an incredible off-balance jumper to give San Antonio a 73-72 lead. Coming out of a timeout, Kobe Bryant was unable to shake a double team, forcing Payton to inbound to Fisher, who managed to catch the ball, turn, and heave a desperation jumper over the outstretched arms of Manu Ginobili. Before the referees even had a chance to consider reviewing the shot on replay, Fisher was celebrating by triumphantly racing off the court and into the locker room (the replay was upheld, and a Spurs protest was denied). Duncan called it a "lucky shot" to which Shaquille O'Neal responded "one lucky shot deserves another." The loss snapped a 17-game home winning streak for the Spurs, and they wouldn't get another chance in San Antonio that season, as the Lakers put away the series two days later in Los Angeles in game six.
2) Bob Harrison, 1950 NBA Finals, Lakers vs. Nationals, Game 1
Over 50 years before Derek Fisher, another overlooked Lakers guard had his own career-defining shot. Harrison was a rookie on the then Minneapolis Lakers, who entered the 1950 Finals as the defending champs but were underdogs against a Syracuse Nationals team that owned home court advantage (and had finished 34-1 at home in the regular season) and were anchored by Harrison's childhood friend, Dolph Schayes. As the Lakers deployed a paint-heavy offensive strategy, centered around their superstar George Mikan, Harrison averaged just 4.5 points per game despite being the starting shooting guard. This was an unfamiliar supporting role for him, as he had once had scored 139 points in a single junior high game, was All-State in high school, and led his college team, Michigan, in scoring. But Harrison would get his moment of glory in game one of the 1950 Finals, when Mikan blocked a lay-up attempt by Syracuse's Al Cervi, and the rebounder, Jim Pollard, passed it to an open Harrison at half court. With the score tied 66-66 and time running out, he took one dribble past the half court line and heaved up a 40-foot prayer that somehow found the bottom of the net to win it for Minneapolis. The Lakers went on to win the series in six games, the first of Harrison's three title rings with the team. He would eventually become an All-Star level player later in his career with the St. Louis Hawks.
159 players were taken in the 1985 NBA Draft before Mario Elie. The list includes Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone, but also 93 players who never even played an NBA game. Elie never rounded into an All-Star caliber swing man, but he did have one shining moment in the playoffs that led to a prize Ewing and Malone can only fantasize about: winning an NBA title. As the Rockets looked to defend their title in '94-'95, Elie posted his usual numbers with 8.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game, but his playing time decreased late in the season due to the new presence of Clyde Drexler in the rotation. Though Pete Chilcutt was the starting small forward for Houston, Elie was typically on the floor alongside Drexler on the wing late in close games, as was the case in game seven of a second round series against the Suns, with 20 seconds left and the score tied 110-110. Phoenix employed a half-court trap, forcing Kenny Smith to rotate the ball to Robert Horry, who found a wide-open Elie cross-court for a baseline three-pointer with seven seconds left. Elie celebrated the basket by blowing a kiss to the silenced Phoenix crowd, lending the shot its enduring nickname, "The Kiss of Death." It closed out a 3-1 series comeback for the Rockets, who went on to defeat the Spurs in the Conference Finals and the Magic in the NBA Finals.
As opposed to popular belief, Michael Jordan did not take every important shot for the Bulls in the '90s. Exhibit A came in game six of the 1993 NBA Finals against Phoenix. Though Chicago led the series 3-2, the Suns had all the momentum thanks to the unstoppable play of Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson. With everything on the line in the fourth quarter, the Bulls called timeout with 14 seconds left, trailing 98-96. Chicago had been held to just nine total points in the quarter, all of them from Jordan, but Phoenix had missed six of their last seven shots, blowing numerous chances to put the game away. It's unclear if Jordan or Scottie Pippen was designed to take the final shot, but neither got a chance as Horace Grant passed to Paxson in the corner, where he drained the game-winning and series-winning three-pointer. Paxson had lost his starting point guard position to B.J. Armstrong early in the season, and struggled after missing all of February and most of March due to knee surgery. But Phil Jackson liked having the veteran Paxson out on the floor in crunch time for his defense and shooting and it paid off in this moment more than ever.
Paxson would limp through 27 games the next season before hanging up his sneakers, and four years later, his doppelganger on the next installment of Bulls championship runs was veteran shooting specialist Steve Kerr. Though he had struggled through the first five games of the 1997 Finals, including getting shut out completely in games one and five, Kerr was playing well enough in game six to be on the floor for Chicago's final possession. A few nights prior in game four, John Stockton had stolen the ball from Jordan on a double-team late in the game to seal a Utah victory. Needing one last basket to put away game six and sensing the same scenario would arise, Jordan told Kerr in the timeout huddle to be ready, because he would look for him if Stockton double-teamed again. Kerr responded that he was prepared, and proved to be, hitting the jumper that clinched the game and the Bulls' fifth title. At the championship rally days later in Chicago, Kerr joked that he had "bailed Michael out again."
About as graceful as a hippo wearing a tutu and generating most of his scoring from the post, "Big Baby" Davis had to be just about the last guy on the floor at any given moment that you'd expect to hit a game winning jumper. Thrust into the starting lineup for the playoffs after Kevin Garnett suffered a knee injury, Davis, then in just his second season, played admirably, averaging 18.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in Boston's thrilling first round series win over Chicago. Though the defending champion Celtics certainly had the will to win and held home court advantage, they were a spent and depleted roster and entered their second round series against Orlando as underdogs. Trailing in the series 2-1, Boston led for most of game four but blew their lead down stretch as they missed eight straight field goals. After Rashard Lewis hit a pair of free throws to give a Magic a 94-93 lead, Boston called timeout with 11 seconds remaining. Coach Doc Rivers likely drew up the final play for Paul Pierce, but Pierce commanded a double-team at the top of the key after a Davis screen. Having slipped off the screen to get open in the corner, Davis took a pass from Pierce and calmly drained a mid-range jumper to win the game and even the series. It turned out to be a pyrrhic victory, as the Magic eventually won the series in seven games and moved on to the NBA Finals.
The Indiana Pacers were already accustomed to late-game dramatics in the 1995 playoffs by the time they reached the Conference Finals. This was the postseason run that included Miller scoring eight points in nine seconds to give the Pacers a remarkable come-from-behind victory over the Knicks. The first three games of Indiana's Conference Finals series against Orlando had all been decided by five points or less, and game four looked to be no different, with the teams battling back-and-forth throughout. After Magic star Penny Hardaway hit an off-balance contested three-pointer to give his team a 93-92 lead with just 1.3 seconds remaining, all eyes in Market Square Arena were on Miller, hoping he could bail them out one more time. Instead, coach Larry Brown had Miller run off a screen towards the corner as a decoy, and instructed Derrick McKey to find Smits at the top of the key with his inbounds pass. Smits caught it cleanly enough to have time to pump fake, which drew a premature leap from Tree Rollins (Shaquille O'Neal had fouled out), then sink the buzzer beating jumper. It was dubbed the "Memorial Day Miracle" (a designation that was used again by a different fan base in 1999, see #13 below) but the Pacers were ultimately unable to contain O'Neal or Hardaway, and lost the series in seven games.
8) Don Nelson, 1969 NBA Finals, Celtics vs. Lakers, Game 7
From Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke ordering that balloons be stored in the rafters for his team's inevitable victory, to Bill Russell's fearless defensive heroics, to Wilt Chamberlain sullenly nursing a sore knee on the bench, game seven of the 1969 NBA Finals was full of iconic moments and memories. But many either forget or don't realize that it was Nelson who was the ultimate hero, hitting the game-winning shot that capped Boston's 11th and final title of the Russell dynasty. It was the culmination of an up-and-down series for Nelson, who came off the bench at both forward positions. After a solid game one with 16 points and seven rebounds, he contributed just 12 combined points in the next three games but was crucial in game six, scoring a team high 25 points to help the Celtics win at home to force a decisive game seven. After blowing a 17-point fourth quarter lead in the deciding game, Boston was nursing a late 103-102 lead when Havlicek drove to the hoop looking to put the game on ice with a layup. The ball was poked away from Havlicek and bounced directly to Nelson, who was standing in perfect position at the free throw line. His jumper clanged off the back of the rim, hung in the air for what seemed like forever, then softly fell through in what would be the game's decisive points (reminder that there was no three-pointer in 1969, so a three point margin was a two possession lead), sending Russell out as a champion one last time.
Lakers fans had a love-hate relationship with the Artist Formerly Known as Ron Artest throughout the '09-'10 season. Brought aboard in the summer of 2009 to replace the departing Trevor Ariza, Artest was seen by some as a shrewd defensive upgrade but others were reticent to believe he could stay under control long enough to make the necessary impact. Though he did stay out of trouble and had some flashes of great play, Artest still made Lakers fans groan every time he launched an ill-advised three-pointer or made a misguided attempt at ball handling and play making. This all came full circle in a must-win game five of the Conference Finals against Phoenix. He was almost non-existent for the first 47 minutes of game, contributing just two points and four rebounds to the proceedings. With the score tied at 101-101 and seconds remaining, the Lakers drew up their final play for Kobe Bryant, but he was forced into a difficult air ball that Artest inexplicably hauled in and threw back up and into the basket with 0.7 seconds left on the clock for the win. Artest then scored a season-high 25 points in Los Angeles' clinching game six of the series and added a performance so clutch and gritty in game seven of the NBA Finals against Boston that coach Phil Jackson called him the game's MVP. For Artest, it was just fulfilling his promise of contributing to a Lakers championship that he supposedly made directly to Bryant in the locker room showers after the Lakers lost in the 2008 NBA Finals (why Artest was in the locker room of a team he didn't play for right after a Finals game is still unexplained).
Few nicknames have ever been as apt as "The Microwave" for Vinnie Johnson, a player who could heat up in a hurry off the bench and finish games he didn't start. The Blazers found that out all too well in the deciding fifth game of the 1990 NBA Finals. Johnson had struggled in the series' first two games in Detroit, scoring just two points in each of them, but rebounded big in games three and four in Portland as the Pistons opened up a 3-1 series lead. With their backs against the wall, the Blazers showed some veteran pride in game five, taking a 90-83 lead late in the game, determined to at least send the series back to Detroit rather than be closed out at their Rose Garden. But the Pistons scored the final nine points of the game, including an Isiah Thomas jumper with 34 seconds left to tie it. After Portland's point guard Terry Porter turned it over at the other end, Thomas ran the clock down to five seconds, then dished to Johnson in the corner, just inside the three-point line. Johnson used a stutter step to shake the defending Jerome Kersey, then let fly a poorly-arced duck that somehow swooshed through the net to give Detroit its first ever championship. It was Johnson's 14th and 15th points of the fourth quarter after scoring just one point total in the first three. Because the shot went down with 0.07 seconds left (Porter actually got a decent look at a buzzer beater at the other end afterwards but it bounced off the rim), "The Microwave" gained a new secondary nickname, "007, Detroit's James Bond."
There was certainly no brevity of dramatics in the 1997 playoffs, which ended with a thrilling series-clinching shot by Steve Kerr to give Chicago its second straight title (see #5 above). Before we got to that point, there had already been game winners from legends John Stockton in game six of the Western Conference Finals and Michael Jordan in game one of the NBA Finals. We had also seen buzzer beaters from two less likely sources, Rex Chapman of the Suns and Eddie Johnson of the Rockets. Chapman's shot came in a first round series against Seattle, but was just to tie the game in regulation, rather than win it, so we won't get into details here. Johnson's came in game four of the Conference Finals, where his Rockets were trailing the Jazz 2-1 in the series. He was an especially unlikely candidate for taking the final shot, considering that three of Johnson's teammates were future first ballot Hall of Famers: Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Barkley and Olajuwon had combined for 47 points and 26 rebounds in the game, but the Jazz led for most of the contest, forcing Houston to come back in the fourth quarter. With the score tied 92-92 and 6.7 seconds left, the Rockets set up a play for Drexler in the corner. But facing a double-team, Drexler bailed out to Matt Maloney, who found a wide-open Johnson at the top of the arc for the game winning three-pointer. The Rockets mobbed the 38-year-old Johnson, who had also been the hero of their game three win, scoring 31 points off the bench. Four days later the Jazz returned to Houston for game six with a 3-2 series lead, and this time it was Stockton hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer to finish the game and put away the series.
Such a disruptive force defensively in college at UNC that he was dubbed "Secretary of Defense," Bradley was never an offensive threat in the NBA, averaging just 8.4 points per game as a rookie in what turned out to be a career high. A true journeyman, he played for Indiana, Phoenix, Chicago, New Jersey, and Atlanta, and in '85-'86 he was backing up Jeff Malone at shooting guard for the Bullets when they faced off against Philadelphia in round one. Despite playing without an injured Moses Malone, the Sixers had built a comfortable 94-77 lead, thanks to 26 points, 22 rebounds, and nine assists from Charles Barkley. But Philadelphia would fail to score in the final 3:49 of the game, as the Bullets methodically ripped off 18 straight points to steal the win. When the lead had been trimmed to 94-92, an offensive rebound was grabbed for Philly by Terry Catledge and Julius Erving was then intentionally fouled with three seconds left. Barkley threw his hands into the air in celebration, and the Spectrum fans breathed a sigh of relief. However Erving missed not two, but three consecutive free throws, as a Bullets lane violation negated the second attempt. Washington called timeout to set up a final play which, according to coach Kevin Loughery in later interviews, was designed to go to Cliff Robinson for a potential tying jump shot. Instead the ball went into Bradley, who was forced to spin and heave a three-pointer, that somehow banked off the back board and through the net. Bradley had just six points in the game up to that point and had averaged just 2.8 per game during the regular season. It's difficult to surmise why he was even on the floor, as he had finished literally dead last in the NBA in three-point shooting for the season, amongst eligible players. 76ers TV announcer Jim Barniak even noted before the final play that the defense wouldn't be paying attention to Bradley. Despite the galvanizing win, the Bullets couldn't take care of business at home in game three, and the Sixers finished off the series in five games.
Though the lockout-reduced '98-'99 season is one that most would prefer to forget, it did produce some memorable postseason moments. In addition to the two described here, San Antonio's NBA Finals opponents, the Knicks, had two of their own from star players. Allan Houston hit a game winning jumper to close out New York's first round victory over Miami, while Larry Johnson had a dramatic four-point play in the Conference Finals. Houston and Johnson were ostensibly New York's best players after Patrick Ewing went down with an injury, but the Spurs' big shots came from role players. Elliott had been an All-Star caliber player in his prime, but after undergoing surgery to repair tendinitis in his leg he missed the majority of the '96-'97 and '97-'98 seasons, and was never the same level of player when he returned (his time off the roster was a big reason the Spurs were able to tank in '97-'98 and land Duncan in the draft). He averaged just 11.2 points per game for San Antonio in '98-'99, but had a huge game two in their Conference Finals series against the Blazers, capped by a game-winning three-pointer. Portland's Damon Stoudamire hit just one of two free throws with 12 seconds remaining for an 85-83 lead. All eyes were on San Antonio's Steve Kerr, the last-second hero of the 1997 NBA Finals for Chicago (see #5 above) but the inbounds pass went to Elliott on the near-side baseline, and he tightrope-walked the sideline and hit a high-arcing three-pointer over the outstretched arms of the 6'11" Rasheed Wallace. It was an oddly desperate attempt from Elliott considering it came with nine seconds still left on the clock, but the Spurs were able to defend a final shot from Portland's Jim Jackson (and a put back from Walt Williams that just missed). Not only was it Elliott's sixth three-pointer of the game in just seven attempts, it was the only time all game that Portland trailed, and San Antonio fans took to calling it their own "Memorial Day Miracle."
After finishing a sweep of Portland, the Spurs found themselves on the precipice of their first championship, in another tight battle in the NBA Finals game five against New York. Never a star player, Johnson was a consistent starting point guard for the first time at age 28, and five years later was already considered washed up even as he was quarterbacking the Spurs to the Finals. Trailing 77-75 with seconds remaining, Johnson went inside to Duncan who drew a double team, and kicked it back out to Elliott. Elliott found Johnson wide open in the corner off of a rotation, and he drilled the three-pointer to give San Antonio the title. Though David Robinson was the veteran that got all the attention, the 1999 championship was also an appropriate coronation for the long careers of Johnson and Elliott.
A seven-time All-Star during his prime years with the Hawks and Nets, Johnson was 35 years old when he signed with the Jazz in 2016 and expected to take on a supporting bench role to help pace a young and upcoming roster. He finished sixth on the team in both minutes played and scoring in the regular season, but in Utah's first postseason game against the Clippers, Johnson came alive. He led the team in scoring with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting off the bench, and hit a pretty buzzer beating floater in the lane over the outstretched arms of Jamal Crawford and DeAndre Jordan to give the Jazz a 97-95 victory. It was an especially impressive win for the Jazz given that the game was in Los Angeles and their star center, Rudy Gobert, played just 17 seconds before leaving with a knee injury. Johnson would later add a game-high 28 points in Utah's game four victory, and the Jazz eventually won the series in seven, their first playoff series win in seven years.
Like a few others on this list, Allen would not have been listed here if this shot had come earlier in his career. An All-Star during his stints with the Bucks, Sonics, and Celtics, he had already hit plenty of memorable postseason baskets as a star player, and arguably could have been the Finals MVP in 2008. But he was 37 years old when he joined the Heat as a free agent in 2012, and for the first time in his career was coming off the bench and averaging less than 30 minutes per game. His playing time did increase during the playoffs, especially in the NBA Finals against San Antonio when the Heat opted to play more small ball with Chris Bosh at center, and his legendary three-point shooting made Allen still a must-play in crunch time. Game six of those 2013 Finals was one of the most thrilling (and frustrating, depending on your rooting allegiance) in league history, and it all turned on arguably the greatest shot in Finals history. San Antonio led for much of the game, and seemed primed to put it away late and clinch an improbable championship. With the Heat trailing 95-92 in the waning seconds, LeBron James missed a jumper but Bosh was able to secure a rebound and kick it outside to Allen. In a shot that he was singularly qualified to make, even at his advanced age and diminished skills, Allen stepped back and calmly nailed a three-pointer to send the game to overtime. Miami eventually won the game and the series, for their second straight championship.
All hail Big Shot Bob, the secondary player that became so known for hitting clutch playoff game winners that it turned him into a star in his own right. A brief history:
- It all started in his rookie season with Houston, in game seven of a 1993 second round playoff series against Seattle. With 32 seconds remaining in regulation and the score tied at 91-91, Hakeem Olajuwon passed out of a double team to Horry, who was standing just inside the three-point line and nailed a jumper to just beat the shot clock and give Houston the lead. They would eventually lose the game and series in overtime.
- His first actual game winner came in the 1995 Conference Finals against San Antonio. Most people remember that series as a dominating mandate from Olajuwon over his rival David Robinson. But when game one was in doubt with the Rockets trailing 93-92 on the road, Horry hit a jumper with 6.5 seconds left and Houston stole the victory. In game three of that year's NBA Finals against the Magic, Horry did it again, hitting a three-pointer on an Olajuwon kick-out to give the Rockets a 106-103 win and an insurmountable 3-0 series lead.
- Horry's later exploits with the Lakers were even more memorable, and 2002 was the nexus point. (He had a huge three-pointer late in a tight game three of the 2001 NBA Finals against Philadelphia that was hugely important, but not a game winner). In the first round against Portland the Lakers were facing tough competition in game three, as they attempted to finish off the sweep. Trailing 91-89, Kobe Bryant drove to the basket, and when he drew in the defense there, of course, was Horry, open in the corner for the winning three-pointer, over the outstretched arms of Scottie Pippen.
- The 2002 Conference Finals seemed to be in Sacramento's control. They held a 2-1 series lead and were dominating game four in Los Angeles. After Shaquille O'Neal scored the first basket of the game, the Lakers played the next 47+ minutes from behind, by as much as 23 points in the second quarter. But the Lakers came storming back in the fourth quarter, and after Vlade Divac made just one of two free throw attempts, Los Angeles was trailing 98-96 with 11.8 seconds remaining. They got the ball into the hands of Kobe Bryant, who missed a runner, and Shaq's put-back was also off the mark. Divac tipped the ball away from the basket, expecting it to safely bounce away as the buzzer sounded, but instead it ended up in the hands of Horry, standing all alone at the top of the key. He calmly sank the buzzer beating three-pointer. After the game a bitter Divac called it a "lucky" shot to which Horry replied "that wasn't luck, I've been doing that all my career. He should know."
- That was enough to make a career for Horry, but he had one more big shot in him, in the 2005 NBA Finals. With the series tied 2-2, Horry's Spurs and the Pistons battled back-and-forth all night in Detroit for game five. Horry, just a couple months away from turning 35, had 21 points (all in the fourth quarter and overtime) and seven rebounds off the bench, and at one point scored seven straight for San Antonio as they took an 88-87 lead. The game went to overtime and Detroit held a 95-93 advantage with 9.5 seconds left. Horry inbounded to Ginobili, and the Pistons unwisely doubled Manu in the corner, leaving Horry wide open for the game-winning three-pointer. Perhaps Detroit should have heeded the words out of the man's own mouth: "I've been doing that all my career."