The most iconic game-winners in NBA history

There is perhaps no more cinematic shot in NBA history. Just before the buzzer sounds, Kawhi takes a contested shot from the corner. It bounces around the rim for what feels like an eternity. Eventually, it goes in and the Raptors advance, eventually winning the championship.

A shot so good, it's just called "The Shot." In a deciding game, down one with moments remaining, Jordan elevated over Craig Ehlo to clinch the series. Footage of MJ's subsequent leap and fist pump has become one of the most iconic basketball clips of all time.

With one chance left, LeBron James took a three-point shot, which missed. Chris Bosh grabbed the rebound as Allen backpedaled to get behind the three-point line in the corner. Bosh found him, and Allen tied the game with five seconds left. The shot saved Miami's playoff run that postseason, which ended in a title.

MJ's final bucket as a Bull was something else. In what would be the championship-winning game, Jordan stole the ball as his team was down by one. In the final seconds, he crossed over Byron Russell, rose up near the free-throw line, and drained it with five seconds left. The Jazz were unable to answer, and MJ retired (for the second time) a champion.

So much happened in the final five seconds of this game. Down by two, Kobe Bryant missed a shot in the lane. Then, Shaq missed a put-back. The rebound was tapped out right to "Big Shot Bob" at the top of the key. He caught the ball with just over a second left, then calmly hit the buzzer-beating game-winner.

Tim Duncan hit an incredibly difficult and clutch shot, leaving just 0.4 seconds on the clock. After taking a timeout, the Lakers inbounded the ball to Derek Fisher, who nailed a miraculous turnaround jumper to give LA the win.

Lillard is one of the best ever when it comes to long-range threes, especially in the clutch. In the 2019 playoff matchup against the Thunder, Dame's Blazers were tied. With Paul George in front of him, Lillard pulled up from near the mid-court logo and ended the series.

Stockton's Jazz famously never won a title, but they went to the Finals, and one clutch Stockton shot sent them there in 1997. On an inbound play from midcourt, defenders got tangled in screens, leaving Stockton room to cleanly receive the ball with little defensive pressure. He even had the real estate to get close to the three-point line and drain one as time expired.

In his first conference finals appearance, Haliburton showed he could handle the spotlight. At the end of regulation, his Pacers were down by two against the Knicks, Haliburton hit a buzzer-beater that appeared to be a three-pointer. His toe was on the line, but his team ultimately won in OT.

With a mere second on the clock, Sampson's Rockets were tied with the defending-champion Lakers. From midcourt, the ball was inbounded to Sampson, who in one fluid motion caught it inside the free throw line, turned and threw the ball towards the hoop, and made the shot as the clock ran out, sending Houston to the Finals.

If the three-point line had existed in 1970, this would have been a game-winner. As it was, though, West's Lakers were down two in the final seconds. After advancing the ball some with a few dribbles, West was forced to throw up a 60-foot shot, which went in and sent the game to overtime.

It was usually Michael Jordan coming through with the late-game heroics for the Bulls, but in 1994, he was away from the NBA to give baseball a try. So this time, it was Kukoc's turn. With under two seconds remaining, he caught the inbound pass and hit a turnaround jumper to give the Bulls the victory.

Over the course of about six seconds, James brought the ball up the length of the court and found himself on the left side, outside of the paint. With no other options, he put up a runner, which he banked in as time expired, giving the Cavs a 3-0 series lead over the Raptors.

This isn't one shot, but a series of them. Going up against the Knicks on their turf, Miller and the Pacers were down by six with nine seconds remaining. He hit a three, stole the following inbound pass, and hit another three. With the game tied, Miller then hit two free throws, scoring eight points in nine seconds to complete the comeback win.

In a win-or-go-home game against the Heat, down one with three seconds left, Marcus Smart missed a three, which would have won the game for the Celtics. White, though, was proactive on the boards, even as the inbounder on the play, and was able to get the rebound and quickly put it in a layup, fractions of a second before time expired.

First, Van Exel hit a three that tied the game, which went into overtime after the Spurs were unable to answer. Then, at the end of OT, Van Exel again came up clutch: With just 0.3 seconds left, he hit a three-point runner, ultimately winning the game for LA.

With 2.1 seconds on the clock and the Heat down by two to the Bucks, they inbounded the ball to an extremely tightly guarded Jimmy Butler. Despite defenders draped all over him, Butler caught the ball and made a layup as he fell to the ground, sending the game into overtime.

During the "bubble" season playoffs, Luka's Mavericks were down by one to the Clippers in overtime. After some crossovers to mostly shake the defender, he took a tough step-back three as time expired. He drained it, and Dallas tied the series at two games apiece.

With the game tied, Denver rightfully went to Nikola Jokić, who was forced into a tough long-range fadeaway. It missed wide, but with just 0.2 seconds left, Gordon rebounded the ball, threw it down, and managed to get it out of his hands before the clock hit 0.

This is similar to the aforementioned Reggie Miller game, and while it wasn't in a high-stakes postseason environment, what McGrady did was still phenomenal: He scored 13 points in 33 seconds. That run included four consecutive threes, one of which was an and-one four-point play. The Rockets needed every single make, as they came away with a one-point win.