Buzzer beater


In timed sports, a buzzer beater is a successful shot made as the clock expires at the end of a period or at the end of the game, leaving zero seconds remaining. A buzzer sounds whenever a game clock expires, hence the name "buzzer beater." In basketball, the concept normally applies to baskets made at the end of a quarter, the second half, or overtime. A buzzer beater only counts if it leaves the player's fingers before the shot clock runs out. If the ball remains in the player's hands, then the shot violates the Trent Tucker Rule and does not count. The term is most commonly applied to shots that win or tie the game as the game clock expires.
Officials in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Basketball Association, Women's National Basketball Association, Serie A, and the EuroLeague Final Four series are required to use instant replay to verify whether a shot that is made at the end of a period was released before the game clock expired. Since 2002, the NBA has also mandated the use of LED light strips along the edges of the backboard and the edge of the scorer's table to identify the end of a period.

Notable examples

Although buzzer beaters are fairly common, several instances have been recognized as special occasions:

NCAA">National Collegiate Athletic Association">NCAA

NBA">National Basketball Association">NBA

Regular season

Playoffs">NBA playoffs">Playoffs

  • In Game 1 of the 1950 NBA Finals, Bob Harrison hit a buzzer-beater to win the game for the Lakers, 68–66.
  • In Game 6 of the 1956 NBA Finals, Cliff Hagan makes a shot to force a Game 7 as the Hawks beat the Celtics.
  • In Game 3 of the 1962 NBA Finals, Jerry West steals the ball and makes a layup as the time expired to give the Lakers a 2–1 series lead over the Celtics.
  • In Game 4 of the 1969 NBA Finals, Sam Jones hit an off-balance as time expired to lift the Celtics to a series-tying 89–88 win over the Lakers.
  • In Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals, with the Lakers trailing the Knicks 102–100. Jerry West sank a desperation buzzer-beating shot to tie the game. Since the three-point field goal was not adopted until the 1979–80 NBA season, it only tied the game. The Lakers lost 111–108 in OT.
  • In Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals, Gar Heard hit a buzzer beater against the Boston Celtics to tie the game at 112 and force a third overtime. This was one of the many high points of the game, which the Celtics won, 128–126. Heard's shot is one of the reasons the NBA refers to Game 5 as "The Greatest Game Ever Played".
  • In Game 1 of the 1986 Eastern Conference First Round, Dudley Bradley banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to win the game 95–94 for the Bullets after the 76ers led 94–77 with three minutes left.
  • In Game 3 of the 1986 Western Conference Semifinals, Derek Harper hit a long three-pointer with three seconds left to beat the Lakers, 110–108.
  • In Game 5 of the 1986 Western Conference Finals, the Rockets and Lakers were tied at 112 with one second left and the ball at half-court. Ralph Sampson hit a turn-around shot at the buzzer to win the series for Houston.
  • In Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference First Round, Michael Jordan took the inbounds pass with three seconds left, sprinted to the free throw line and hit The Shot over Craig Ehlo at the buzzer to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101–100.
  • In Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference First Round, with Charlotte down 103–102 with 3.3 seconds left, Alonzo Mourning took the inbounds pass and hit a shot with four-tenths of a second left.
  • In Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Semifinals, "The Shot II". With the score tied at 101, Michael Jordan made an fade-away over Gerald Wilkins at the buzzer to give the Bulls a 103–101 victory and sweep Cleveland.
  • In Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals with 1.8 seconds left and the Bulls down 2–0 in the series, Toni Kukoč sank a fadeaway at the buzzer to give Chicago a 104–102 victory over New York.
  • In Game 5 of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals, Nick Van Exel hit a three-pointer with five-tenths of a second left in OT to give the Lakers a 98–96 win over the Spurs. He had also hit a three-pointer with 10.2 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 88 and force overtime.
  • In Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Reggie Miller scored 8 points in 8.9 seconds to erase a 6-point deficit and beat New York, 107–105.
  • In Game 4 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana's Rik Smits faked a shot over Tree Rollins, then hit a shot at the buzzer to beat Orlando 94–93. The lead changed hands four times in the last 13.3 seconds.
  • In Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals, Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon tipped in a missed layup by Clyde Drexler with three-tenths of a second left in OT to beat the Magic 120–118.
  • In Game 4 of the 1997 Western Conference First Round, the Suns' Rex Chapman caught an overthrown Jason Kidd pass and made a falling-out-of-bounds three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left to tie it at 107. The Suns still lost 122–115 in OT.
  • In Game 4 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals, Houston's Eddie Johnson hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat Utah 95–92.
  • In Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals, John Stockton hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, lifting Utah over Houston 103–100 to win the series 4–2.
  • In Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan hit a jumper over Bryon Russell at the buzzer to give Chicago an 84–82 victory.
  • In Game 4 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana was trailing Chicago 94–93 with 2.9 seconds left. Derrick McKey inbounded to Reggie Miller, who hit the game-winning three-pointer with seven-tenths left. They still lost the Series. The Bulls went on to win the NBA Championship against the Utah Jazz.
  • In Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals, the Lakers were trailing the Kings 99–97 with 11.8 seconds left. The Lakers were trailing 2–1 in the series and faced Game 5 in Sacramento. After Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal missed consecutive layups, Vlade Divac swatted the ball away in a vain attempt to run out the clock. However, it went right to Robert Horry, who caught the ball and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lakers a 100–99 victory.
  • In Game 1 of the 2003 Western Conference First Round, Stephon Marbury of the Phoenix Suns scored a buzzer beater and had a 96-95 victory against the San Antonio Spurs.
  • In Game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference Semifinals, Tim Duncan made a fade-away shot over Shaquille O'Neal to give the Spurs a 73–72 lead with four-tenths of a second left, but Derek Fisher hit a at the buzzer to win the game for the Lakers 74–73.
  • In Game 5 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals, with the series tied at 2, the Detroit Pistons were down 88–85 to the Nets with no timeouts. Chauncey Billups banked in a three-pointer from half-court at the buzzer to tie the game at 88. Detroit lost in the third overtime, but won the series in seven games and proceeded to defeat the Lakers 4–1 in the NBA Finals.
  • In Game 4 of the 2006 Western Conference First Round, Kobe Bryant made a buzzer beater to defeat Phoenix 99–98 and give the Lakers a 3–1 series lead. The Phoenix Suns, however, won the series in seven games and are the 8th team to overcome a 3–1 series deficit.
  • In Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, LeBron James took the inbounds pass and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 96–95 victory over the Orlando Magic. This buzzer beater caused the Cavs to tie the series against the Orlando Magic.
  • In Game 5 of the 2010 Western Conference Finals, after Kobe Bryant air-balled a three-point shot, Ron Artest hit the put-back at the buzzer to give the Los Angeles Lakers a 103–101 win over the Phoenix Suns to give the Lakers a 3–2 series lead. The Lakers won the series 4–2 and went on to win their 2nd straight title.
  • In Game 1 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, with the Heat down 102–101 in overtime against the Indiana Pacers, LeBron James made a driving lay-up as time expired in overtime to give the Heat a 103–102 win over the Pacers.
  • In Game 3 of the 2014 Western Conference First Round, Vince Carter hit a three-point shot from the left corner at the buzzer, giving the Mavericks a 109–108 victory and a 2–1 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs. However, Dallas would lose in seven games to the eventual NBA champion Spurs.
  • In Game 6 of the 2014 Western Conference First Round, with the Portland Trail Blazers down 98–96 with nine-tenths left, Damian Lillard hit a buzzer beating three-pointer off the inbounds pass to beat the Houston Rockets 99–98 and win the series 4–2.
  • In Game 3 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Derrick Rose banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Chicago Bulls a 99–96 win against the Cavaliers and take a 2–1 series lead.
  • In Game 4 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Semifinals, LeBron James hit a corner two-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers an 86–84 win against the Bulls and tie the series at two, while Cavaliers coach David Blatt was being held back from trying to call a timeout. Cleveland had none at the time, and the technical foul would have given Chicago a free throw and possession.
  • In Game 3 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Paul Pierce banked in a step-back shot at the buzzer to give the Washington Wizards a 103–101 win against the Atlanta Hawks and take a 2–1 series lead.
  • In Game 1 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to tie it at 90. Toronto eventually lost to the Heat 102–96 in overtime.
  • In Game 5 of the 2018 Eastern Conference First Round, LeBron James hit a game winner at the buzzer to give the Cavaliers a 98–95 win against the Pacers and take a 3–2 series lead.
  • In Game 3 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals, LeBron James hit a floater at the buzzer to defeat the Raptors 105–103 and take a 3–0 series lead.
  • In Game 5 of the 2019 Western Conference First Round, Damian Lillard hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer from and Paul George's outstretched arm to beat the Thunder 118–115 and win the series 4–1.
  • In Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Kawhi Leonard's last-second shot bounced off the rim four times before falling to give the Raptors a 92–90 victory over the 76ers to advance to the Eastern Conference finals; the Toronto Raptors then went on to win the 2019 NBA Finals.
  • In Game 4 of the 2020 Western Conference First Round, Luka Dončić hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win the game for the Mavericks, 135–133 over the Clippers.
  • In Game 2 of the 2020 Western Conference Finals, with the Lakers trailing 103–102 to the Nuggets, Anthony Davis hit a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds to win the game, 105–103, and give the Lakers a 2–0 series lead.
  • In Game 2 of the 2021 Western Conference Finals, with the Suns trailing 103–102, Deandre Ayton puts up 24 points, alongside a buzzer-beating, game-winning alley-oop dunk, and 14 rebounds, to beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
  • In Game 1 of the 2022 Eastern Conference First Round, the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets 115–114 with Jayson Tatum's buzzer-beating layup.
  • In Game 6 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, with Celtics trailing 103-102 and three seconds remaining, Derrick White inbounded to Marcus Smart, whose three-point shot with two seconds to go bounced off the basket, but then, with 0.1 seconds remaining, White grabbed the rebound and tipped the ball in to give Celtics the 104-103 win and force the deciding Game 7 against the Miami Heat.
  • In Game 2 of the 2024 Western Conference First Round, Jamal Murray hit a buzzer-beating jumper over Anthony Davis, completing the Nuggets' twenty-point comeback over the Lakers and giving his team a 2–0 series lead. Murray would later score another game winner in Game 5 to eliminate the Lakers for good, making him the only player to score two game winners in the same playoff series.
  • In Game 4 of the 2025 Western Conference First Round, Aaron Gordon pulled-off a buzzer beating slam dunk, with assist by Nikola Jokić to lead Denver Nuggets to a 101–99 win over Los Angeles Clippers, and tie the series at two. This was the first game-winning buzzer-beating dunk in NBA playoffs history.
  • In Game 1 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals, Tyrese Haliburton hit a buzzer beater from the three-point line at the end of the 4th quarter for the Indiana Pacers against the New York Knicks. The ball hit the back of the rim, bounced high up in the air, and then fell through the hoop to tie the game at 125–125. The shot was initially thought to be a game-winning three-pointer, but replay showed that Haliburton's right foot was on the line, making the shot game-tying instead of game-winning. The Pacers went on to win the game in overtime. This was one of Haliburton's four game winners in the 2025 NBA playoffs.

Olympics and Europe

  • In the 1972 Olympic Finals, Alexander Belov of the Soviet Union scored a last-second basket after catching a full-court desperation launch by a teammate. As time expired, Belov hit a layup that won the game 51–50 against the U.S. team.
  • In the second round of the 1997 Eurobasket, in a high-strung game between FR Yugoslavia and Croatia, Aleksandar Đorđević won the game for Yugoslavia 64–62 with a coast-to-coast three-pointer. The same player won the 1992 Euroleague title for Partizan Belgrade in strikingly similar fashion.
  • On April 7, 2004, Maccabi [Tel Aviv B.C.|Maccabi Tel Aviv] was trailing Žalgiris at home, on the decisive round-robin match to determine which team advances to the Final Four tournament, held later that month on Maccabi's home court in Tel Aviv. Maccabi's failure to advance would mean utter disaster, as team officials battled all season long against Euroleague attempts to relocate the tournament due to ensuing Al-Aqsa Intifada and similar UEFA ban on football (soccer) matches hosted in Israel. With two seconds remaining and Maccabi trailing by three, Derrick Sharp caught a long pass from Gur Shelef, turned to the basket and fired a game-tying fade-away three-pointer, forcing overtime. Maccabi won that game, advanced to the Final Four and became Euroleague Champion, winning the final game against Skipper Bologna by the all-time record score of 118–74.
  • On August 15, 2004, in the preliminary round at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|2004 Summer Olympics], after a run of Alejandro Montecchia, Manu Ginóbili received the ball trailing 82–81 against Serbia and Montenegro with seven-tenths of a second left. He made the shot while falling sideways after it hit the board. Argentina then would win the gold medal.
  • In an exhibition match between the US and Germany during the run-up to the 2004 Summer Olympics, a less than stellar Team USA was saved by Allen Iverson, who hit a half-court shot to keep the game from going into overtime.
  • On April 25, 2010, in the title game of the 2009–10 ABA League, Partizan Belgrade topped Cibona Zagreb in overtime in Arena Zagreb, thanks to an off-the-glass three-pointer by Dušan Kecman from half-court at the buzzer, bringing the celebration of Cibona players and staff to an abrupt end. Partizan thus won its fourth consecutive Adriatic League title. The final score was 75–74.
  • On January 24, 2014, in a Top 16 Euroleague game between Anadolu Efes and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Efes was trailing by two points when Keith Langford from Milan had another free throw attempt with three seconds left on the game clock. He missed the second free throw so that Anadolu Efes could not take another timeout. Zoran Planinić from Anadolu Efes then grabbed the rebound, took one dribble and threw the ball from within their own three point line to the basket of Milan. He made it and no time remained on the game clock; the final score was 61–60.
  • On April 25, 2014, in the semifinal game of the 2013–14 ABA League Final Four, between Partizan Belgrade and Cedevita Zagreb, Cedevita was trailing with one less point and possession. Milenko Tepić of Partizan missed the three-point shot with six seconds left, Nolan Smith of Cedevita grabbed the ball, ran to the other side of the court with his defenders not guarding him, and hit a running three-point buzzer beater from. The final score was 81–79. The shot secured a spot in the 2014–15 Euroleague season for Cedevita, while leaving Partizan out of the Euroleague for the first time after 14 years, and the first time since the ULEB takeover of the competition in 2000.
  • On September 16, 2018, Greece national basketball team qualified to the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup after a thrilling win with a buzzer beater made by Kostas Papanikolaou after a Nick Calathes assist in Tbilisi over Georgia 2019 [FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification (Europe)#Group L|86–85].

Asia

PBA">Philippine Basketball Association">PBA

MPBL">Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League">MPBL

  • In the winner-take-all championship game of the 2021 MPBL Invitational, Philip Manalang of the Basilan Jumbo Plastic, hits the championship-winning three-point shot at the buzzer against the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards to win the prize with the score of 83–80 in overtime.

In other sports

The term is sometimes applied to analogous achievements in other sports.

Ice hockey

In ice hockey, a buzzer beater is a goal that is scored just before the clock expires in a period. Unlike in basketball, the puck must completely cross the goal line with 0.1 seconds or more remaining on the clock for the goal to count; if the period expires before the puck completely crosses the goal line, the goal is disallowed.

Football

In Australian rules football there are kicks after the siren, where a mark or free kick awarded just before the end of a quarter may be kicked as the final action of that period. In Gaelic football, play is extended to allow for the kick of a free kick or puck awarded prior to the end of a half.
In gridiron football, a touchdown after time expires or a field goal kicked as time expires can be described as a "buzzer beater," though no actual buzzers are used in that sport. More generally, in all codes, if a play is in progress at the time the clock expires, play continues until the ball is dead. Several important games have been decided on the outcome of buzzer beaters, such as Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII, both of which were decided on successful kicks by Adam Vinatieri; in contrast, Scott Norwood's infamous missed kick in Super Bowl XXV decided that game in favor of the opposing New York Giants. A related concept in football is the Hail Mary pass.
In rugby union the game does not end until the ball goes dead after the time has expired. Therefore, if a side trailing by 6 or less points can maintain possession and keep the ball in play, they have a chance of victory. A rule change in 2017 amended the rules so that if a penalty is awarded, the ball can be kicked out and a line-out taken, even if time has elapsed. The rules in rugby league also allow for play after time has elapsed; however, a tackle will also end the game, meaning that significant extensions are less likely.
In association football, matches or halves are ended at the main referee's discretion, and at the higher levels of play, they almost never end it unless the ball is around the midfield at the time or if the ball is dead while the allocated stoppage time has been surpassed by a minute or more. As such, scenarios where buzzer beaters could theoretically occur almost never happen. In the very rare scenarios where a referee does blow the whistle to end the half or match while a ball is almost scored but has not crossed the goal line, it does not count as a goal.

Lacrosse

Starting with the 2018 season, the National Federation of State High School Associations rules for high school boys' field lacrosse in the United States allow for buzzer-beaters. A goal counts if the shot was released before the official's whistle signaling the end of play for any period of the game, even if it goes in after having previously contacted part of the goal or a defensive player. The opposing team may request a stick check after buzzer-beaters, unless it comes at the end of the game and does not result in overtime, since the rules consider the game over at that point.
US Lacrosse similarly changed the youth rules the same season to allow buzzer-beaters. However, the National Collegiate Athletic Association rules for men's lacrosse still require that any shot enter the goal before the whistle to score.

Handball

Similar to ice hockey, goals in regular handball gameplay only count if they cross the goal line before time runs out. The exception is if a free throw or a seven-meter throw is called while the clock runs out. Should a goal be scored in such a scenario, and the shooting player has kept one of their legs on the ground during the shot, the goal counts.