Best Buzzer Beaters in NBA Playoff History

The best buzzer beaters in NBA playoff history are the shots that compress a season — sometimes a decade of franchise hope — into the half-second between release and rim. A real buzzer beater isn't a generic clutch jumper with five seconds left. It's a shot in the air when the horn sounds and on the scoreboard before anyone in the arena has reacted. The list below sticks strictly to shots that beat the buzzer at the end of regulation or overtime in a playoff game — not regular-season highlights, not late-game daggers with time still on the clock. Every detail has been cross-checked. These are the ten that defined the genre.

What Counts as a Buzzer Beater

The honest definition has three parts. The ball leaves the shooter's hand before the horn. It goes in. And it changes the outcome of the game. By that rubric, a lot of "clutch" shots get filtered out. Ray Allen's 2013 corner three came with 5.2 seconds left and forced overtime — historic, but not at the buzzer. Magic Johnson's 1987 junior sky hook beat the Celtics with two seconds left, not zero. Robert Horry's 2005 Finals three went in with 5.8 seconds on the clock. All legendary. None of them clear the bar this list uses.

Michael Jordan over Craig Ehlo — 1989 First Round, Game 5

The shot the genre is named after. On May 7, 1989, the Bulls and Cavaliers met in Game 5 of a first-round series tied 2-2, in Cleveland. Cavs guard Craig Ehlo had just put the home team up 100-99 with three seconds left. Chicago inbounded to Jordan near the foul line, Brad Sellers screening on the catch. Jordan rose over Ehlo from 18 feet, hung in the air long enough for Ehlo to begin coming down, and released a double-clutch jumper that rattled the back rim and dropped through. The Bulls won 101-100. Jordan finished with 44 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.

The shot mattered partly because Cleveland was the better team — 57-25 to Chicago's 47-35 — and partly because it pulled Jordan's reputation from "best scorer alive" into "ends franchises with a single shot." The image of Jordan fist-pumping in mid-air with Ehlo falling away is one of the most reproduced photographs in basketball history. When people in the NBA say "The Shot," capital letters, this is the one they mean.

Kawhi Leonard's Bounce Shot — 2019 East Semis, Game 7

On May 12, 2019, in Toronto, Kawhi Leonard caught an inbounds pass with 4.2 seconds left in a Game 7 tied at 90 against the Philadelphia 76ers. He dribbled along the right baseline, picked up his dribble in the corner with Joel Embiid closing, and threw up a fadeaway 20-footer over Embiid's outstretched hand from the right corner. The ball hit the rim. Then it hit the rim again. And again. And again. Four bounces, and on the fourth it tipped forward and dropped through as the horn sounded.

The final score was Raptors 92, Sixers 90. Leonard finished with 41 points on a night his legs were visibly gone. It is the only Game 7 buzzer beater in NBA history, and the moment the 2019 Finals run pivoted on — without it, there is no Toronto championship. The image of Leonard crouched on the baseline, surrounded by his bench, watching the ball decide his career in slow motion, is the most visually distinctive buzzer beater the league has ever produced.

Damian Lillard's Wave — 2019 First Round, Game 5

April 23, 2019. Trail Blazers and Thunder tied at 115 with the clock running down. Russell Westbrook had missed a layup with 18.3 seconds left, Portland controlled the rebound, and Lillard worked the ball at the top of the arc with Paul George — one of the best perimeter defenders in the world — directly in front of him. Lillard backed up, kept backing up, and from 37 feet rose and fired a one-foot-behind-the-logo three over George's contest. The shot dropped through as the buzzer sounded. 118-115 Blazers. Series over, 4-1.

Lillard finished with 50 points, joining a list of three players in NBA history with 50 points and a buzzer-beating playoff game-winner. He turned, walked back up the floor, and waved goodbye to the OKC bench. Paul George called it "a bad, bad shot" in the postgame, and he was technically right: a 37-foot pull-up over an elite perimeter defender is indefensibly low-percentage. The trick is that Dame Time is built on shots like this.

Damian Lillard over Houston — 2014 First Round, Game 6

The original Dame moment. May 2, 2014, in Portland, the Blazers leading the series 3-2 against a Rockets team starring James Harden and Dwight Howard. Houston scored on a Chandler Parsons offensive-rebound reverse layup with 0.9 seconds left to take a 98-96 lead. Portland had one play and no margin. Coming off a screen along the sideline, Lillard caught Nicolas Batum's inbounds pass at the right wing — Parsons closing out, Howard rotating — and rose into a 25-footer with one continuous motion. The ball was leaving his hand as the horn sounded. Blazers 99, Rockets 98. Series over.

It was the NBA's first series-clinching buzzer beater since John Stockton's in 1997, and it announced Lillard as a closer at age 23. Five years later he'd repeat the trick against OKC. No other player in NBA history has two series-ending buzzer beaters.

John Stockton over Houston — 1997 West Finals, Game 6

May 29, 1997, in Houston. Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, Jazz up 3-2. Clyde Drexler's 16-foot bank shot had given Houston a chance, but Karl Malone rebounded the miss and called timeout. Utah had 2.8 seconds. Out of the timeout, Drexler ended up switched onto Stockton in the backcourt — much smaller, much quicker — and Bryon Russell faked an inbounds pass to Jeff Hornacek, freezing the defense for a half-tick. Malone set a screen on Drexler. Stockton caught the pass cleanly with no help arriving and rose from just inside the top of the key. Charles Barkley flew at him on the closeout. Stockton's three splashed through at the horn.

Jazz 103, Rockets 100. Stockton finished with 25 points and 13 assists. The shot sent Utah to its first NBA Finals in franchise history. His pure, unguarded jubilation as he ran to the bench — the only time in two decades he looked like he was actually enjoying himself on a basketball court — became the lasting image of the franchise's most important moment.

Editorial illustration: Best Buzzer Beaters in NBA Playoff History

Derek Fisher's 0.4 — 2004 West Semis, Game 5

Maybe the most physically improbable shot on this list. May 13, 2004. Lakers and Spurs tied 2-2 in the second round. With 0.4 seconds left, Tim Duncan had just hit a falling-out-of-bounds fadeaway 18-footer over Shaquille O'Neal to give San Antonio a 73-72 lead. Phil Jackson called timeout. Gregg Popovich called timeout. Phil called another timeout. When play finally resumed, Gary Payton inbounded from beyond half-court. Derek Fisher caught it, turned mid-air, and shot — all in 0.4 seconds — from 18 feet near the right elbow. The ball swished through.

The Spurs immediately filed a protest. Replay confirmed the ball had left Fisher's fingers before the horn. Lakers 74, Spurs 73. L.A. closed out in Game 6 and rode the moment all the way to the Finals. The shot remains the gold-standard example of how much basketball can fit into less than half a second, and it's the reason the league later clarified rules around inbound plays with 0.3 seconds or less remaining: catch-and-shoot only, no dribble or full turn.

LeBron James over Hedo Turkoglu — 2009 East Finals, Game 2

May 22, 2009. Cavaliers down 1-0 to the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals, trailing by two in the closing seconds of Game 2. Cleveland inbounded with one second left from the right sideline. Mo Williams threw it to LeBron at the top of the arc, where Hedo Turkoglu — a 6'10" wing closing hard — got an outstretched hand directly in his face. James rose from 25 feet, released over Turkoglu's contest, and the ball was in the net before the horn finished sounding. Cavaliers 96, Magic 95.

James finished with 35 points. The shot evened the series at 1-1 and looked, at the time, like the moment that would carry Cleveland to its first Finals in the LeBron era. It didn't — Orlando won the next three games and went to the Finals themselves — but the shot endures because of how technically clean it was. No bounce, no rim luck. A 25-footer over a contested closeout with one second on the clock. James has called it one of his three favorite shots ever.

LeBron James over the Pacers — 2018 First Round, Game 5

The closer he never gets credit for. April 25, 2018, Cleveland and Indiana tied 2-2 in the first round, tied 95 with three seconds left. Indiana had clawed back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and had a chance to win it on a Victor Oladipo drive moments earlier — but James blocked him at the rim. Out of a timeout, Cleveland inbounded to LeBron at the top of the arc. He took a single dribble, drifted right against Thaddeus Young's closeout, and pulled up from beyond the break. The three dropped through at the horn.

Cavaliers 98, Pacers 95. James finished with 44 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. The shot prevented what would have been the first first-round loss of his career; Cleveland closed Indiana out in Game 7 and went to a fourth straight Finals. Lose Game 5, and that Finals run probably doesn't happen.

Robert Horry over the Kings — 2002 West Finals, Game 4

The performance of a career. May 26, 2002. Lakers down 2-1 in a series they were on the verge of losing — Sacramento was 61-21 that year, the deepest team in the West — and trailing by as much as 24 in the first half. With about 11 seconds left and Sacramento up 99-97, Vlade Divac batted a loose rebound to the perimeter to clear the play. The ball bounced straight to Robert Horry above the break. Chris Webber was closest but couldn't close out in time. Horry stepped into the catch-and-shoot three in one motion. It dropped through at the horn.

Lakers 100, Kings 99. The series tied at 2-2 instead of 3-1, and L.A. eventually won in seven on its way to the third straight title. Horry hit dozens of game-winners across his career — that's where "Big Shot Bob" comes from — but he has called this one the most important of his life. Without it, the Shaq-Kobe Lakers probably don't three-peat.

Allan Houston over the Heat — 1999 First Round, Game 5

May 16, 1999, in Miami. Eighth-seeded Knicks against the top-seeded Heat in a decisive Game 5 — the deepest possible underdog spot in the NBA at the time. Score 77-76 Miami with 4.5 seconds left, New York inbounding under its own basket. Houston caught the ball, took two dribbles down the lane, slipped between Tim Hardaway and Dan Majerle, and floated a running one-hander from just inside the foul line. The ball hit the front of the rim, kissed the backboard, and dropped through with 0.8 seconds left.

The Heat had one possession to answer and couldn't get a clean look. Knicks 78, Heat 77. New York became only the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to beat a No. 1 — and the first ever to ride that upset all the way to the Finals. Houston shot 5-of-13 that night. He didn't need a 14th. The shot technically left 0.8 on the clock rather than zeros, but it's universally categorized with the at-the-buzzer canon — the Heat's final possession never produced an attempt.

Ralph Sampson over the Lakers — 1986 West Finals, Game 5

The oldest entry on this list, and the one most people forget. May 21, 1986, in Los Angeles. Rockets up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals against the defending-champion Lakers, score tied 112-112 with one second left. Houston inbounded from the right sideline near midcourt — Hakeem Olajuwon had been ejected earlier in the game for fighting with Mitch Kupchak, leaving Sampson as the lone big man. Rodney McCray's inbounds pass deflected high. Sampson, with his back to the basket near the free-throw line, contorted his body and flipped a twisting, falling-away over-the-head shot from about 14 feet. The ball hit the front rim, bounced up, and dropped through at the horn.

Rockets 114, Lakers 112. Sampson finished with 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Houston closed out one of the most dominant Western Conference teams of the decade and ended the Lakers' four-year stranglehold on the West. The Rockets lost to the Celtics in the Finals, but the shot remains the moment that briefly cracked open the Bird-Magic era. It's also the most acrobatic buzzer beater on this list — he didn't square up, didn't get his feet set, didn't really see the rim until after the ball was gone. He just threw it at the basket and it went in.

What These Shots Have in Common

Read the list end-to-end and a few patterns emerge. The series-ender is the most prestigious category — Jordan over Ehlo, Stockton, both Lillards, Kawhi, and Sampson all clinched. The catch-and-shoot is the dominant mechanic — Stockton, Fisher, Horry, and Houston all caught the ball and shot it in one motion, with no dribble to set up. The off-the-dribble version is the harder shot — Jordan, Kawhi, and both Lillards created their own looks against set defenses, which is why those four are remembered as the most individually heroic. Defenders matter less than you'd think. Ehlo, Embiid, George, Turkoglu — none of them stopped what happened. The best buzzer beaters aren't really about defense at all. They're about the shooter making a contested shot at the maximum possible degree of difficulty.

The lesson teams have actually drawn from this list is structural. Late-game possessions with two or three seconds to play are now drawn up as either a corner three or a screen-the-screener action to free a shooter for a catch-and-shoot. The hero-ball pull-up is rarer at the buzzer than it used to be — the math doesn't favor it. But the math doesn't account for the players on this list. Every one of them made a shot they probably shouldn't have, against a defender who probably should have stopped them, with a season on the line. That's why the genre exists.

Closing illustration for Best Buzzer Beaters in NBA Playoff History