On a night of basketball that had it all, we were given four ridiculous game-winning shots: One by an MVP; One by a rookie; One by a journeyman; And one by a couple of no-names. Four game-winners in one night like this can get even the most hardened League Pass vet to shake their head and smile. We’ll kick things off with Derrick Rose ending Brandon Jennings‘ nightmare of a game with a step-back J in his mug.
Normally Chris Paul makes pretty sound decisions. But this one made no sense. Double-team a guy 30 feet from the hoop to give a man 25 feet from the hoop a wide open dagger? As someone on YouTube wrote, “This shot was longer than Kris Humphries‘ marriage.” Jordan Farmar‘s been waiting for this moment since he left L.A. Suck it in man because you might not have another one like it for a while.
Kyrie Irving went coast-to-coast against shutdown artist Arron Afflalo, and then contorted his body in the lane to get a lefty layup to drop over Nene. As impressive a final shot as that was, Irving’s final two-and-a-half minute run was even better. 10 points, and finally to cap it, this game-winner.
Saving the best for last? It was definitely the most surprising game-winner of the night. Not only did it involve Isaiah Thomas and John Salmons – one being a second-round pick this year who wasn’t supposed to make it, and the other having one of the worst seasons by any player in the NBA – but it came off what should’ve been an easy inbounds pass for the Hornets.
Rank the game-winners from best to worst…
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