In what is probably going to be the number one buzzer-beater of the 2021 NBA season, Luka Doncic sank one of the most impractical circus shots of all time to help the Dallas Mavericks barely scrape by Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. If you have yet to see the impractical shot, treat yourself to it, even if you've already seen the play:
🚨 MAGICAL LUKA GAME-WINNER! 🚨
Luka Doncic beats the trap, puts up the floater from behind the arc and knocks down the #TissotBuzzerBeater to lift the @dallasmavs! #ThisIsYourTime pic.twitter.com/eOqyEGMg7T
— NBA (@NBA) April 15, 2021
That was a near-horizontal teardrop from three, to beat the buzzer, that put the Dallas Mavericks up by one to ice the game. Watch the clip again, read that sentence again, and bask in the ridiculousness of it, because you're not alone. The whole NBA was dumbstruck at the brilliance of Luka-magic.
Possibly even more impressively, Doncic's own teammate and sniper extraordinaire JJ Redick legitimately didn't believe what he saw that night in Memphis:
Article Continues Below“”When he shot the ball and the ball went in, everybody on our team ran on the floor like we had just won the game,” Redick said. “I was confused, because from my angle, it looked like he shot a floater from 14 feet. I had no idea it was a three. And then when they showed the replay, it was — a little in disbelief of how ridiculous that shot was.”
Redick, who was brought over to the Mavs from the New Orleans Pelicans, has made his own share of both ridiculous and clutch shots from range. So to hear him, of all people, be in awe of Luka's skill (and luck) firsthand takes this feat up into the stratosphere.
Doncic is having another season torching the NBA (28 points, 7.9 rebounds, 8.6 assists per game), and he and the Mavs are looking to avoid the dreaded play-in tournament that awaits the 7th through 10th seeds that will determine who makes this year's postseason. If this sort of luck is on their side, hell, the Mavs just might win the whole damn thing.