Basketball · 2013 · Miami, USA
The Shot That Saved Miami
Facing elimination and trailing by three points with seconds left, the Miami Heat get the ball to the league's greatest career three-point shooter, standing exactly on the line.
5.2 seconds
Time remaining at shot
Heat won in OT, forced Game 7
Result
Heat won championship
Series outcome
The Miami Heat trailed the San Antonio Spurs three games to two in the 2013 NBA Finals and were down by three points with under thirty seconds left in Game 6, a loss that would have handed San Antonio the championship. After an offensive rebound off a missed three by LeBron James, the ball found its way to Ray Allen, retreating to the corner.
Allen caught the pass, took one step backward to plant himself precisely behind the three-point line, and released a shot with 5.2 seconds remaining that dropped through to tie the game at 95-95, sending it to overtime. Miami went on to win the extra period and then Game 7 two nights later, capturing the franchise's third championship.
The shot is routinely ranked among the greatest in NBA Finals history for both its degree of difficulty and its stakes, a single possession that stood between Miami's season ending and a decisive seventh game. Allen's calm precision under that pressure, backing perfectly into the corner without looking down, is the detail most replayed.
Watch the Moment
