Some game-winning shots rely on sheer luck, while others depend on intelligence.

On this wild game day with many ties and buzzer-beaters, the two game-winners today were outstanding. Bane’s three-pointer was a highly difficult shot, purely luck-based. Wiggins’ alley-oop winner, however, reflected Spo’s basketball intelligence.

In basketball, wasting chances will be punished by the basketball gods. But if both sides waste opportunities, it’s a test of who has the tougher destiny.

In today’s game between the Blazers and Magic, this season the Blazers have been evenly matched against everyone, so a close finish against the Magic was entirely expected, and I didn’t anticipate Yang Hansen would even play today. But I didn’t foresee such a dramatic and twisting ending—though you could also call it a battle of weaklings.

At 2:32 remaining, after Bane’s floater, the Magic led the Blazers by 9 points. But in the following two minutes, the Blazers went on an 11-0 run to take the lead. With 11 seconds left, Banchero missed both free throws, then the Magic scored an alley-oop off a sideline inbound, and Banchero fouled, giving the opponent a 2+1 opportunity.

After Grant hit the free throws to complete the 2+1 and put the Blazers ahead by two, the game was just heating up. Following a timeout, Banchero answered with his own 2+1, but missed the free throw again, tying the game with 5 seconds left.

The Blazers had possession and could have used up all the time, with overtime as the worst-case scenario. But Holiday lost the ball to Banchero with 1.9 seconds remaining, giving the Magic the ball. The stage was set, the script written—someone just had to deliver the final blow.

Bane received the sideline inbound, faced Kamara—last season’s second-team defender—drifted sideways, and launched a three-pointer. The ball arced perfectly over the arena and swished through the net as the buzzer sounded—a game-winning shot!

Before making this shot, Bane was 0-for-5 from three, continuing his poor outside shooting since joining the Magic. It seems the Magic have some kind of three-point curse—players who used to shoot well from deep struggle here. So far this season, the four first-round picks including Bane have a combined three-point shooting percentage of only 25.6%.

However, this single shot alone justified Bane’s value as a first-round pick. It’s likely that sinking this three-pointer restored Bane’s shooting confidence, and the Magic’s momentum for the entire season will shift because of this buzzer-beater. The significance of this game-winner is immense.

The intense Eastern Conference clash between the Cavaliers and Heat also went into overtime. In the final moments, the Cavaliers were down by three. Mitchell grabbed an offensive rebound and nailed an extremely difficult corner three-pointer to tie the game, leaving only 0.4 seconds for the Heat.

This moment was extremely delicate because the NBA later ruled that the minimum time required for a catch-and-shoot attempt is 0.4 seconds. So the Heat still had a slight chance for a game-winning shot, and it was this slim possibility that allowed Spo to execute a clever feint.

With 0.4 seconds left for a sideline inbound, the Heat surprisingly subbed out their biggest alley-oop threat, Veal, and without Adebayo playing today, they essentially put out a lineup without interior presence—making it obvious they were going to take the final shot themselves.

The Heat first had Powell run a play with a double screen elevator set, pretending to receive the ball through the middle, drawing all defensive attention to Powell. As Powell passed through screens from Wiggins and Mitchell, Wiggins cut, and Mitchell set a screen for Wiggins. Hunter was blocked by Mitchell, and Merril, guarding Mitchell, was pulled away.

This was a fake elevator play that allowed both Powell and his defender to get through, confusing the Cavaliers’ defense. Merril’s momentary defensive misjudgment gave Wiggins a clear path to the basket for an uncontested alley-oop game-winner. Powell acted as a decoy, Mitchell’s crucial screen, Wiggins’ athleticism, and Spo’s basketball intelligence all peaked at this moment.

In the postgame interview, the game-winner Wiggins said first: “Wow, the coaching staff’s play design was incredible! Jovic’s pass was stunning, and I happened to be in the perfect spot to finish it.”

It’s worth mentioning that a year ago, the Heat were tied by the Pistons using a similar play. Then, without a timeout, Spo called a timeout that was penalized as a technical foul, essentially costing himself the game-winner. A year later, Spo partially redeemed himself with this play.

Spo is truly recognized as the top coach in the league today. The Heat have produced elite offensive firepower this season even without Hero playing. Spo’s abilities are beyond question. Recently, Spo also replaced Kerr as the official head coach of the USA men’s basketball team.

Today’s two buzzer-beaters were both remarkable: Bane’s shot was extremely difficult and thrilling; Wiggins’ alley-oop winner demonstrated the ultimate basketball intelligence, achieving a lethal strike through teamwork that made the game-winner look effortless.

And these are exactly the reasons why we love the sport of basketball so much.