Most significant on-court NBA moments of the 21st century: Epic 3s and major milestones – The Athletic

Hot take, coming fast: The San Antonio Spurs’ 2014 championship was both the aesthetic peak and most emotionally resonant accomplishment of the first 25 years of this century in the NBA.

The first part is easy to defend, with the Spurs, led by the Tim Duncan/Tony Parker/Manu Ginobili trio but infused with Kawhi Leonard’s killer defense, Boris Diaw’s passing, Danny Green’s shooting and an overall obsession with quick decision-making, virtually perfecting basketball. As for the last part, no team has ever been closer to winning a title without actually winning it than the 2013 Spurs — see No. 3 on this list. Not only did the Spurs come back to win it the next season, but they did so by exploiting the same superteam that shocked them a year prior, dissecting the LeBron James/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh Miami Heat.

That is a rich text. And it did not even make the cut for The Athletic’s top 25 on-court moments of the first 25 years of this century.

Perhaps the Spurs didn’t make it because they were encapsulated by a building narrative than any one moment. However, it takes a lot of special moments, which run the emotional spectrum, to send those Spurs to also-ran status.

One note: For those wondering about the brawl between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers, known as The Malice in the Palace, we have classified that as an off-court moment, as so much of that story was about what happened in the stands and the fallout. More on that later this week.

Even without that, the voting was tough. One of the most viral moments of our time (LeBron yelling at JR Smith) and the (positive) exploits of Robert Horry fell just short. That just tells you how much has happened over this quarter-century. — Eric Koreen

1. The chasedown

Tie score. Two minutes left. Game 7, 2016 NBA Finals. No one on either side had scored in nearly three minutes of game action, which seemed, in real time, like the 52 years that had passed since Cleveland’s last pro sports title. Suddenly, the Golden State Warriors were going to break through. Kyrie Irving missed a five footer and the Warriors had numbers going the other way. Andre Iguodala, sprinting with the ball in his hands, over to Steph Curry, back to Iguodala for a sure-fire, tie-breaking layup with just 1:50 left.

Blocked by James!

LeBron James started on his own baseline, caught Iguodala at the last possible moment, coming from across the rim on its left side to pin his layup attempt against the backboard. James, who would one day become the NBA’s scoring champ, made the signature play of his storied career and delivered on his promise of a championship for Cleveland … on defense. — Joe Vardon

2. 81

The wildest part of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game in Jan. 2006? The Lakers needed that kind of night from Bryant.

Smush Parker, Lamar Odom, Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm started with Bryant. The top reserves were Luke Walton, Brian Cook and Sasha Vujačić. The Toronto Raptors were just 14-26 entering the game, but led by 14 at halftime and by 18 early in the third quarter. It was looking like another bad night for the Lakers, post-Shaquille O’Neal.

Bryant scored 55 in the second half — outscoring the Raptors by 14 by himself. Unlike Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game, there is plenty of footage of Bryant scoring from all over the court and stamping his singular dominance. The moment became bigger than basketball with multiple musicians incorporating the 81-point game into their lyrics. But it was also a reminder of how bad that roster was, something that would need to be addressed for the Lakers and Bryant to win again. — Jason Jones

3. Ray Allen, from the corner

Gregg Popovich was apoplectic. Miami Heat guard Ray Allen had just drained one of the biggest shots in basketball history in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals and officials had stopped play to check whether Allen was behind the 3-point line. Popovich wanted play to continue so his San Antonio Spurs could go against a Heat defense that might not have gotten set.

For accuracy’s sake, the officials’ decision was admirable. However, if there was any player who knew where he was on the court when he was shooting, it was Ray Allen. He honed his effortless shooting stroke through a relentless work ethic and an impeccably prepared pregame routine.

When LeBron James missed a late 3 and Heat forward Chris Bosh grabbed the rebound, Allen was … in the restricted area next to Bosh! Allen backpedaled to the corner and got a perfect pass from Bosh just before the 3-point line. Allen glanced down to his left to see where he was as his momentum carried him into the corner behind the arc. He barely had time to get his feet set, but when he let it go, everyone on the Heat bench saw the flight of the ball. They began celebrating before Allen’s shot swished through to tie the game at 95.

The Heat would go on to win Game 6 in OT and Game 7 two nights later to make it back-to-back titles. James rightfully won Finals MVP, but without Allen’s cold-blooded 3, who knows how NBA history would have evolved. — Rob Peterson

4. Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce

“Clank” taketh away, and “clank” giveth. Kawhi Leonard missed his second free throw with 10 seconds remaining in Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers, allowing Jimmy Butler to race down for a layup, tying things — 90-90 in the game, 3-3 in the series — with the Toronto Raptors.

“Clank” can also be your friend. Leonard caught the inbound pass with four seconds left, dribbled from the left to the right of court along the 3-point arc and took a beyond-difficult shot with the clock hurtling toward zeroes, Joel Embiid was in his face near the baseline. With each of the four ensuing bounces, the Scotiabank Arena crowd got a bit louder, realizing what was happening: a game-winning, series-ending, Game 7 buzzer-beater that looked and felt like no other. — Koreen

5. Draymond crosses a line — below the belt

The Warriors were on their way to winning Game 4 and taking a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals and no team had ever blown such a lead in the NBA’s ultimate series.

With 2:42 left and Golden State ahead by 10 against Cleveland, Draymond Green became tangled with LeBron James. James stepped over him and Green took offense, first hitting James in the privates and then taking a swing at his back. There was no foul called on the play. But after the game, responding to questions from the media, the Cleveland Cavaliers complained about Green, who was just one technical foul away from an automatic one-game suspension.

The league office reviewed the play, assessed a technical against Green for the punches, necessitating he miss Game 5. The Warriors lost all three remaining games. Years later, Green said James baited him into the punch. — Vardon

6. Bon soir

Stephen Curry could never sync up with the Olympics. He’d been coming off injuries in 2012 and 2016, and decided not to play in 2021, when the Games were delayed a year by the pandemic. The 2024 Games in Paris were his first — and, likely, at age 36, his last — chance at playing in an Olympiad.

Curry struggled early during the tournament to find his rhythm, but by the time the semifinals rolled around, he was center stage, as always. He made nine 3-pointers against Serbia to lead a U.S. comeback that put the Americans in the gold medal game against the host French. In a back-and-forth epic, Curry saved his absolute best for when it mattered most, making 3s on four consecutive possessions in the last three minutes of the game, each more preposterous than the last.

After the last one, which secured the gold medal and gave him eight 3s for the night, Curry broke out his infamous “night-night” gesture, having put the French, and the last remaining hole in his Hall of Fame resume, to bed. — David Aldridge

7. LeBron’s beatdown in Beantown

For as much as LeBron James accomplished before 2012, he had not yet achieved an aura of inevitability. Critics questioned his ability to deliver in the clutch. His entire reputation might not have been in the balance during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, but, following a finals flameout the previous season, the stakes felt that high at the time.

Trailing a proud Celtics team 3-2, James delivered an epic performance on the road to save the Heat’s season. Even his otherworldly stat line of 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists understates the control he showed that day. One of the era’s best defenses couldn’t contain him. One of the most hostile environments in the NBA couldn’t faze him. The prospect of elimination only strengthened him.

James graduated that day. To what? If not inevitability, something close to that. — Jay King

8. Kobe’s final, glorious game

There was a choice to be made on April 13, 2016. You could either go to Oakland to watch the 72-9 Warriors attempt to break the all-time record for the best regular season in league history or go to L.A. to witness Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game.

The latter choice displayed all of the outlandishness and elite skill that made Bryant, even at the end of his career, and on a terrible team that season, so compelling to watch.

Kobe already had scored 37 through three quarters, but he saved the most audacious for his final 12 minutes. As the clock dwindled, so did both teams’ idea of actually playing against one another; they each just watched Kobe shoot and shoot and shoot, with the Staples Center crowd loving every hoist. With two 3s in the final minute, Bryant finished with 60 points — on 50 shots — in a Lakers win.

No one cared how ridiculous the last quarter unfolded. It was a canvas upon which the Black Mamba etched a final self-portrait. — Aldridge

9. Whistles amid cowbells

The words “Game 6” still irk Sacramento Kings fans. The Kings had a better record than the Lakers in the 2001-02 regular season and led the series 3-2. They were primed to close out the two-time champions in Los Angeles after a Mike Bibby game-winner in Game 5. But that was the last game the Kings would win in the series.

The Lakers shot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter (Sacramento shot 25 for the game compared to 40 for the Lakers) to edge the Kings 106-102. Sacramento would then blow a second-half lead in Game 7 and lose at home.

The Kings haven’t been that close to a championship since. The result left the Kings as one of the best teams never to win a title and plenty of questions as to why. Many go back to officiating in Game 6. Was it the sole reason the Kings lost the series? No, but it’s the biggest “what if” in Sacramento history. — Jason Jones

10. Damian Lillard waves goodbye to OKC

Damian Lillard waves goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the 2019 playoffs. Jaime Valdez / USA Today Sports

The final two possessions of a first-round series between the Thunder and Trail Blazers epitomized the rivalry between Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook, the latter of whom had been talking trash at the former for years.

With the game tied at 115, Westbrook drove aggressively to the cup, earlier in the shot clock than necessary. Ferocious and wild, his contorted layup rimmed out. Lillard, conversely, took his time. He got the ball, dribbled up the court and waited.

Calm. Poised. Sure.

With Paul George in front of him, Lillard let the seconds drip as if from a faucet. Dame Time isn’t hurried. It arrives. With 2.4 seconds left, Lillard suddenly side-stepped into a 36-footer. George, caught off guard by the audacity, lunged to contest. But it was too late. It rattled in. Lillard delivered one of the coldest game-winners in NBA Playoffs history.

Then he waived bye to Westbrook. — Marcus Thompson II

11. LeBron serves notice in Detroit

The onslaught began with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter, and didn’t end until the final buzzer sounded not one, but two overtimes later. LeBron James scored 25 consecutive points for the Cavs, and 29 of their last 31, to beat the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals.

No one had ever scored 25 in a row in a playoff game before James did it, at just 23. He had two dunks at the end of regulation to tie it, and his driving layup with 2.2 seconds left in double overtime was the game winner. In all, James put up 48 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Cleveland won Game 6 to reach its first Finals. — Vardon

12. The Redeem Team’s ultimate redemption

Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were the headliners on the 2008 USA Men’s basketball team — The Redeem Team — and rightfully so. Bryant brought championship pedigree and an edge, while James showed off unparalleled skill and the program’s future.

But let’s talk about Dwyane Wade, who combined Bryant’s champion status with James’ youth and skill. Wade may have been the Redeem Team’s most impactful player, averaging 16.0 points per game in a mere 18.8 minutes per game on a ridiculous 67.1 percent shooting. He didn’t slack on defense, either, with 2.3 steals per game.

And as spectacular as he was throughout the 2008 Olympics, Wade’s best performance came in the epic gold-medal game victory over Spain. Wade continued his nearly point-per-minute pace with 27 points in 27 minutes, four steals and two assists, including the kickout pass to Bryant for his famous “Shhhhh!” four-point play.

The win quieted the critics as the Redeem Team went 8-0. It also made representing your country cool again: The Americans have won five in a row. It all started in Beijing. — Peterson

13. Tyrese Haliburton tears his Achilles

What if Tyrese Haliburton didn’t rupture his Achilles in Game 7? Haliburton, who had been playing with a strained right calf since Game 5, fell without contact as he was attempting to dribble past Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He immediately pounded the court in agony without getting up near the end of the deciding game of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers in June.

The Thunder led 18-16 at the time of Haliburton’s departure, and he was off to a great start, connecting on three 3-pointers. Even without Haliburton, Indiana led 48-47 and cut a 22-point deficit down to 10 with 2:16 left. Indiana was one win shy of becoming one of the biggest underdogs ever to win a championship. Had Haliburton remained upright, the Pacers may have pulled it off. — Vardon

14. 0.4

Down 73-72 to the Spurs with 0.4 seconds left in Game 5 of the 2004 Western Conference semifinals, the Lakers had the ball out of bounds. The series was tied 2-2. We had already seen one of the most ridiculous playoff shots in history, with a falling Tim Duncan hitting a fadeaway over Shaquille O’Neal to give the Spurs that lead.

On the inbound, Gary Payton found a cutting Fisher, who turned and heaved a miracle 18-footer at the buzzer, demoralizing the Spurs. Fisher thrust his finger into the air and ran off the floor and into the tunnel. The Lakers would eventually steal the series but ultimately fall to the Pistons in five games in the NBA Finals. Still, Fisher’s shot was pivotal in determining the winner the last time the two franchises that defined the century’s first decade faced each other while near the peaks of their respective powers. — Mirin Fader

15. The Mavericks roar back in Miami

Dallas’ 20-2 run in Game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals started so innocuously. Jason Terry hit back-to-back midrange jumpers and a pair of free throws in 60 seconds. The Heat’s once 15-point lead was down to single digits with more than five minutes remaining. Perhaps the most-hyped team in NBA history got walked down by the Mavericks.

The nervous energy bubbled as the Heat’s offense crumbled. A Dirk Nowitzki 3 shook Miami, putting Dallas up 93-90 with 26.7 seconds left. Then Mario Chalmers ended Miami’s drought, making its first basket in nearly seven minutes with a wide-open corner 3 to tie the game. But Nowitzki responded by zipping past Chris Bosh for a game-winning layup, the first blow delivered in one of the great upsets in NBA Finals history. — Thompson

16. Horry’s hipcheck

The Phoenix Suns have never won an NBA title, thanks in part to one of the great sliding doors moments in recent NBA annals.

Phoenix was 18 seconds away from tying its Western Conference semifinals series in the 2007 playoffs with San Antonio 2-2 and regaining home-court advantage in their best-of-seven series, one that many saw as a de facto championship round.

That was when San Antonio’s Robert Horry took a hard foul on Suns star Steve Nash, sending him careening into the scorer’s table. While other Phoenix players confronted Horry about the foul, Suns forwards Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, who were getting up to check into the game, were deemed to have left the bench area and suspended for the critical Game 5.

Without those two,  Phoenix lost 88-85. The Spurs went on to clinch the series at home in Game 6, and then romped to the title, while the Suns were left to wonder about one of the softest and most impactful suspension rulings in league history. — John Hollinger

17. The stepover

Is there a more indelible image from the pre-LeBron/post-MJ era of the league?

Allen Iverson, dressed in the black Sixers jersey and baggy shorts, crossing over Tyronn Lue so severely that he fell to the court, burying a long 2 and then defiantly stepping over him with a scowl on his face. And doing it to cap an upset of the mighty Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals — the Lakers’ first and only defeat that spring. Iverson was a symbol for the underestimated, one who used supreme belief in himself to bend his bigger, glitzier foes to his will.

For a generation of young fans looking for a new hero, Iverson stepped right over Lue and into their hearts. — Jon Krawczynski

18. Klay Thompson goes off in OKC

With the Warriors facing elimination in Oklahoma City in the 2016 Western Conference finals, Klay Thompson went supernova to force a Game 7. Thompson finished with 41 points on 14-of-31 shooting and went an eye-popping 11 of 18 from 3 — a playoff record.

Five of Thompson’s 3’s came in the fourth quarter, as the Warriors chased down the Thunder.

“I guess you could say I was born for it,” Thompson joked after the game.

Though Golden State didn’t go on to win the NBA Finals, Thompson’s performance was one of the greatest playoff feats of all-time, and arguably paved the way for Kevin Durant to switch sides in free agency. — Shakeia Taylor

19. LeBron passes Kareem

It didn’t go quite as planned — for days, LeBron James had worked on a skyhook to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. But with 10.9 seconds left in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder, on Feb. 7, 2023, James turned and splashed a jumper off of one foot — more Dirk Nowitzki than Kareem — over Kenrich Williams for his 38,388th point, placing him ahead of Abdul-Jabbar as the holder of the NBA’s most hallowed individual record.

The Los Angeles Lakers actually lost the game, 133-130, but it was, for the most part, a joyous occasion. Play stopped when he broke a record that had stood for 39 years and was honored in an on-court celebration with family, friends and Abdul-Jabbar. — Vardon

20. Linsanity goes international

Only the greats can get the home crowd to forgo their allegiances and cheer for the road team. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant come to mind this century. And also, for a few weeks: Jeremy Lin.

The previously unknown New York Knicks guard came into Toronto on Feb. 14, 2012 having scored at least 20 points in five straight games, all wins. That included 38 against Kobe’s Lakers. When Lin brought the ball up the court in a tie game, the entire crowd in Scotiabank Arena rose. Raptors guard Jose Calderon backed off and Lin pulled up.

Lin didn’t so much quiet a road crowd as he did absolutely ignite it. — Koreen

21. 27 misses

It’s not just incredible that an NBA team would miss 27 3-pointers in a row as the Houston Rockets did against the Golden State Warriors in 2018. It’s not just impossible that this could happen to a 65-win team in a Game 7 at home. And it’s not just incomprehensible that so many easy shots, let alone the tough ones, would batter the rims. What’s even wilder, even more mind-blowing about this barrage of bricks? The Rockets held the lead through the first 17 misfires.

Here was the launchiest team in NBA history to date (surpassed by the 2024-25 Boston Celtics) riding an analytical wave to the doorstep of the NBA Finals, only to crash, clank and clang, undone by the same philosophy that had gotten them so close in the first place. — Dan Woike

22. Derrick Rose tears his ACL

With the Chicago Bulls leading the Philadelphia 76ers by 12 in Game 1 of the first round, Derrick Rose drove to the lane with about 1:20 left to play. Rose was going for a layup when he came to a jump stop, seeming to change his mind before he passed to a teammate and crumpled to the United Center floor after an awkward landing.

The ACL tear would be a pivotal moment, derailing what looked to be a historic career for the league’s youngest MVP, not to mention toppling what looked to be the LeBron James-led Heat’s top competitor in the Eastern Conference. Neither the Bulls nor Rose were ever the same. — Taylor

23. Giannis’ Finals 50-piece

Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t even supposed to be here. Six days before Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals, he suffered a gruesome left knee hyperextension that was supposed to keep him out at least six weeks.

But thanks to round-the-clock rehab sessions, he was in Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals with his Bucks up 3-2 over the Phoenix Suns. For Giannis and the Bucks to get to this point, they had to survive a Kevin Durant foot-on-the-line jumper in Game 7 to vanquish the Nets in overtime of the East semifinals and then collect wins over the Atlanta Hawks without Antetokounmpo to win the conference finals.

Antetokounmpo made a series of jaw-dropping plays in Games 4 and 5 to set up his masterwork in Milwaukee, in Game 6. Antetokounmpo delivered one of the most amazing closeout performances of all-time. The Greek Freak started the game with a massive chase-down block on Suns forward Mikal Bridges, running down to the other end for a Euro-step finger roll finish that opened up his scoring barrage. From there, he lived at the free-throw line, where he was 17 of 19. Suddenly, he couldn’t miss with his jumper, his relative weakness. He continued to get to the rim and ultimately the Suns didn’t have an answer as Antetokounmpo scored 50 points to lead the Bucks’ to their first NBA title since 1971.  — Eric Nehm

24. A title Wade

Things looked beyond bleak. The Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal-led Heat trailed the Dallas Mavericks 2-0 in the 2006 NBA Finals. But Wade wasn’t having it. Down 13 in the fourth quarter of Game 3, Wade fueled an epic comeback win, exploding for 42 points and 13 rebounds, putting the team on his back.

“I ain’t goin’ out like this,” Wade famously said.

The Heat won the next three games, with Wade posting Herculean-like stats to secure the franchise’s first championship. He was unguardable, averaging 35 points, shooting a ridiculous 47 percent from the field, along with eight rebounds per game. While Dallas fans had some notes about the officiating, Wade had cemented his legacy in just his third season. — Fader

25. Steph becomes the first Splash Brother at MSG

Feb. 27, 2013 was the birth of the Steph Curry who would change the game. And it was Roy Hibbert’s fault. And Raymond Felton’s, too. The night before, the Warriors got into a skirmish in a loss at Indiana. Well, David Lee and Hibbert got in the tussle. Lee, at the time the Warriors’ lone All-Star, was suspended for the altercation.

In New York, then, Curry had a neon green light. He hunted his shot and caught fire. He made 11 3-pointers and scored 51 of his 54 over the final three quarters. He also had seven assists and six rebounds. Curry found the zone in the second quarter, scoring 23 points. Felton would not switch off his assignment, and Curry kept lighting him up.

With his quick release, he came off pick-and-rolls launching daggers. He pulled up in transition from deep. The Madison Square Garden roared in approval for Curry, not the last time he would turn a visiting crowd in his favor. — Thompson