Basketball Fiend

Reason number 6,556 why I love the NBA…

Jazz rookie Sundiata Gaines upstaging LeBron James with an unbelievable buzzer-beating three to beat the Cavs 97-96.

I’ve seen a lot of unbelievable things this season, but Gaines’ game-winning three has to be the coolest, most inspiring moment of the year so far.

A former D-Leaguer playing on a 10-day contract for the Jazz, Gaines filled in for an injured Deron Williams in the fourth quarter and sparked a 19-2 Utah run. LeBron countered with a run of his own, scoring 20 fourth quarter points, including multiple dagger threes.

At that point the game looked like it was over. A nice effort by Gaines, I thought to myself, but he can’t hang with the best of the best. LBJ’s gonna close this one out.

But Sundiata would not be denied.

The Jazz kept hanging around and hanging around. (You know, the old Teddy KGB “alligator blood” routine.) Then, in the final 10 seconds of the game, a missed free throw from Zydrunas Ilgauskas put them within striking distance.

With 5.6 seconds left in the game and the Jazz down by two, Jerry Sloan called timeout and diagrammed a play for Kyle Korver to close out the game. But Korver was closely guarded. Unable to get a shot off, he kicked the ball out to Ronnie Price who passed the ball to Gaines, who stepped back and nailed a rainbow three to win the game.

It was a remarkable shot, the first three-pointer of his NBA career, and it sent Twitter into a frenzy. Everybody was pulling for Gaines, the unknown guard from the University of Georgia.

After the game, Sloan was asked by reporters if he will be signing Gaines to a second 10-day contract. Sloan just smiled and told them, “We’re going to sign him for the year.”

Yet another reason why I love this game.

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