'Never seen anything like it': Insane buzzer-beater stuns NBA world
A stunning last second buzzer-beater from Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard has ended the Philadelphia 76ers’ NBA season.
The absurd shot from the baseline bounced on the rim four times before it dropped through the net.
The game-winning shot handed the Raptors a 92-90 win.
Fueled by 41 points and a game-winner from their two-way superstar, the Raptors advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
What started as a defensive-focused rock fight progressed into a thriller in the fourth quarter, where the Sixers erased a five-point lead with less than five minutes left and a four-point lead with less than one minutes left. What followed will go down in Raptors lore.
Jimmy Butler tied the game at 90 with four seconds left in regulation, giving the Raptors one chance to win it or face overtime. Naturally, the ball ended up in Leonard’s hands.
A running jump shot hit the rim, bounced three feet in the air, then bounced again and again before it finally went through, blowing the roof off the Scotiabank Arena.
The Raptors are now headed to their first conference finals since 2016, but awaiting them will not be LeBron James.
Rather, it will be the closest thing the East has left to James in Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Social media detonates
NBA fans went nuts on Twitter as the shot went down.
Fans, NBA player and media personalities alike were left in awe of the incredible shot.
KAWHI. DID. THAT. 😱
(via @jonmachota)pic.twitter.com/L282cNTME4— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) May 13, 2019
Thank you Basketball gods for these game 7s today🙏🏾
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) May 13, 2019
Just insane bounce and finish. Wow. Kawhi. pic.twitter.com/sl0LyOqw9O
— Will Manso (@WillManso) May 13, 2019
Things I did between the release of Kawhi’s shot and when it dropped. My taxes, calculated all of the numbers in Pi, flew to Mars, figured out the meaning of life #NBA
— Scott Hazlewood (@scotthazlewood) May 13, 2019
Gotta say the view of that shot from the backboard cam on TNT overtime was even more ridiculous
— TS% Eliot (@Cosmis) May 13, 2019
I've never seen anything like that. Ever.
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) May 13, 2019
Are you serious right now???????
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) May 13, 2019
How did it bounce like that?
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) May 13, 2019
Kawhi after doing the 76ers like that pic.twitter.com/YhLtuCGD0x
— enzo (@BornaRazavi) May 13, 2019
Never seen anything like it.
— Laura Armstrong (@lauraarmy) May 13, 2019
The 76ers were clearly devastated by the result, have gone blow for blow with the Raptors for the entire series.
Star centre Joel Embiid was seen in tears as he exited the court.
Leonard finished with 41 points for the Raptors, with Serge Ibaka’s 17 points off the bench the team’s next highest scorer.
Philadelphia were lead by Embiid’s 21 points, while JJ Redick (17), Jimmy Butler (16), Tobias Harris (15) and Ben Simmons (13) all played well.
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