5 best series-clinching buzzer-beaters in NBA history
Every aspiring basketball player dreams of hitting a game-winning shot at the buzzer.
They rehearse the moment in their backyard or playground park, counting down the seconds out loud or in their head.
On Sunday evening, that childhood dream became reality for Kawhi Leonard, who sunk a fadeaway jumper over an outstretched Joel Embiid as time expired to lead the Toronto Raptors to a heart-stopping Game 7 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Here are five memorable buzzer-beaters - including Leonard's - that clinched an NBA playoff series.
5. Lillard eliminates Rockets (2014)
Damian Lillard's first walk-off game-winner gave the Portland Trail Blazers their first series win in 14 years and snapped a six-series postseason skid. Until that point, the club hadn't moved beyond the first round since reaching the Western Conference final in the 1999-00 season.
Lillard's late-game heroics - in just his second NBA season - offered a beacon of hope for a franchise still reeling from the injury-shortened careers of Greg Oden and Brandon Roy and the missed chance to draft a generational superstar in Kevin Durant.
4. Sampson lifts Houston past L.A. (1986)
The 1985-86 Rockets featured a towering frontcourt of 7-foot-4 Ralph Sampson and 7-footer Hakeem Olajuwon, but they entered the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Lakers as the underdog.
In Game 5 on the road, Sampson rose above the defense and put up a near-miracle shot to complete the upset in L.A. and take Houston to the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.
3. Lillard fires from the logo (2019)
Lillard is one of the few players in the world capable of side-stepping into a 37-foot jumper to win a game.
Yes, the Blazers superstar made this list twice - deservedly so. Lillard managed to knock off the Thunder and wave goodbye in just five games after a heated series that included plenty of trash talk.
And for the record, Lillard's buzzer-beater wasn't a bad shot. Sorry, Paul.
2. Kawhi gets the shooter's bounce (2019)
They say time heals all wounds. Well, not exactly.
For 18 years, Raptors fans pondered what might have been if Vince Carter had hit that last-second jumper in the 2001 Eastern Conference semifinal against the Sixers.
With one shot, Leonard exorcised those demons in a fashion fit for a Hollywood script. Like Carter, the Klaw rose up for the potential game-winning jumper - fading away by the sideline - with his tongue out and right leg up. But this time, Toronto's star made it, and it's the Raptors that are off to play for an NBA Finals berth.
Leonard's shot was also the first game-winning buzzer-beater in a Game 7 in NBA history. How's that for revenge?
1. Jordan's epic winner over Ehlo (1989)
Michael Jordan tortured the Cavaliers in several playoff battles, but no moment was more painful than "The Shot" in Game 5 of the Bulls' Round 1 battle with Cleveland.
The series was tied at 2-2 and Chicago was down one with three seconds remaining in regulation. Jordan elevated over Craig Ehlo for the game-winning jumper, and the Hall of Famer celebrated with one of the most iconic fist pumps in sports history.