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Ranking the five game-winners of the 2025 NBA playoffs
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton. Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Ranking the five game-winners of the 2025 NBA playoffs

By Sai Mohan  |  Last updated May 7, 2025 1:39 PM ET

The 2025 NBA playoffs have been a throwback, featuring physical, low-scoring contests that have come down to the wire. 

The closeness of the games has fans on the edge of their seats, leading to a massive surge in viewership. Thus far, there have already been five game-winners with under five seconds left (regulation or OT). 

Here, we rank the clutch shots based on stakes involved, wow factor and degree of difficulty.

No. 1: Jalen Brunson silences the Detroit crowd

With the opportunity to close out the Pistons at home in Game 5, Brunson was shut down by Ausar Thompson, who held the Knicks star to 4-of-16 shooting. 

Brunson would get revenge in Game 6, putting Thompson on skates before hitting the series-clinching three. The reaction of the Pistons faithful made the shot all the more memorable. The play evoked a rare double-bang call from Mike Breen and had Walt Frazier utter the fitting words, "Thompson stumbles and Brunson humbles him."

No. 2: Tyrese Haliburton potentially ends the Giannis era 

Kawhi Leonard is credited with breaking up the Heatles and the dynastic Warriors. Haliburton may have ended the Giannis Antetokounmpo era in Milwaukee. And in a rather poetic fashion, he did so by attacking Antetokounmpo in isolation and making a layup over the outstretched arms of the "Greek Freak," sending the Bucks packing. 

The shot was so deflating that a heartbroken Antetokounmpo stood on the court for several minutes before being taunted by Haliburton's father. 

No.3: Aaron Gordon makes inexperienced OKC pay

The top-seeded Thunder were up 12 with 3:44 left but made a series of mental lapses to let the Nuggets back into the contest. Chet Holmgren then bricked two free throws in the dying seconds, allowing Russell Westbrook to run a fast break and find Aaron Gordon on the left wing for a three. Gordon would make the inexperienced Thunder pay. 

The sequence was redeeming for two reasons: Westbrook overcame his reputation as a late-game choker, and Gordon, once viewed as a liability from deep, made the biggest jump shot of his life. The play proved that seasoned pros eventually get better at various aspects of the game.

No. 4: Hali, I did it again  

This would have ranked higher if it were a series-clincher, but the game-winner was unprecedented. Haliburton rebounded his own missed free throw and sank a dagger three — a sequence not seen in more than 20 years. 

He dared to sprint back to the perimeter through three Cavs defenders to get a desired three when he could have easily found an open Pascal Siakam for a layup. But Hali had no intention of going to overtime — he was intent on crushing the hearts of Cavs fans. The shot meant Hali became just the second player in 20 seasons to hit two game-winners in the final two seconds of the same postseason.

No.5: A flyin' Gordon stuns the Clippers

A Nikola Jokic airball led to a Gordon putback dunk, allowing the Nuggets to steal Game 4 on the road. Some tried to minimize the shot since it wasn't a jump shot over multiple defenders, as with traditional game-winners. Furthermore, the Clippers did not box out properly to secure the defensive rebound, giving Gordon enough room to fly in. 

What can't be denied is Gordon had the wherewithal to anticipate a Jokic miss and "clean up everything on the glass" like he invariably does. The NBA called it the first game-winning buzzer-beating dunk in playoff history (play-by-play era), so Gordon's shot will live forever. 

Sai Mohan
Muck Rack

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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