When we post buzzer-beaters on BDL, we usually do so because the shots win games. Take, for instance, these impressive J.R. Smith jumpers from Wednesday night, which tied the game and won it. But sometimes, a buzzer-beater — while important at the time — doesn't win games. Yet, while it's rendered less important by the final result, it's still worth our attention. Because, like an amazing dunk, sometimes a buzzer-beater is so shocking and absurdly great that it deserves as much attention as possible, regardless of context.
On Thursday night, with 2.2 seconds left on the clock and the Oklahoma City Thunder leading the Dallas Mavericks 98-95, Shawn Marion of the Mavs threw an inbounds pass to Vincer Carter as he cut towards the near corner. Carter was unable to handle the pass, however, and deflected the behind him back towards the top of the key. Marion made a heady play and cut towards the ball — he was also a bit lucky — and managed to take a step before finding Darren Collison just to the right of the top of the arc. With fractions of a second left on the clock, Collison caught and released the ball off one foot, with one hand and improbably swished a basket to force overtime.
BDL's Kelly Dwyer, who's likely watched more NBA games in the past 12 years than anyone, mentioned over email that he cannot remember a buzzer-beater like this one from any spot on the court. So, while the Mavericks eventually lost the game 111-105, this play is worth remembering for quite some time. There's no telling when we might see one like it again.
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