Damian Lillard Buzzer Beater Power Rankings

The shot of the year deserves some closer attention.

by Tom Ziller

May 3, 2014, 2:23 PM UTC

Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

Late on Friday night, Damian Lillard did this to the Rockets.

Let’s power rank this thing.

1. The incredible, mysterious courtside Vine.

Someone sitting very close to the action captured perhaps the best Vine since the Up In Here Llama.

Someone joked that James Harden shot it while on defense. Poor James Harden.

2. The radio call.

Oh my good lord. Listen to this.

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Brian Wheeler, you are magnificent.

3. The TV call.

Mike Tirico absolutely nailed that call. (See it at the top of this post.) Huge moment, huge shot, huge reaction. And Hubie Brown was right behind him for the breakdown. Perfect.

4. How Dame gets open.

Chandler Parsons doesn't even really get screened. I mean, the screeners are there. But Lillard just ditches him to go near-side and get the ball. He gets it up before Parsons can really challenge hard. So simple, yet so great.

5. Dwight Howard is going to throw up.

This USA Today Sports photo tells the story.

Dwight wasn’t alone.

That was about as wrecked a locker room as I've ever seen. Chandler Parsons: "It's the worst feeling I've ever had in my life."
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) May 3, 2014

The Rockets went from getting a Game 7 at home to the end of the season in 0.9 seconds. What an incredibly crushing blow.

6. Lillard clapping for the ball.

From Ben Golliver’s brilliant media row report.

Coming around the top of the arc, Lillard began clapping his hands. Hard. Courtside video clearly captured the rapid-fire clapping. This was the type of clapping you hear when someone is desperately trying to win a heated argument and there are no rational points left to make; here, the argument was “Give me the f----ing ball.”

The ball was actually for LaMarcus Aldridge and the tie in the post. But Terrence Jones (guarding Nicolas Batum) cut off that angle, and Howard held Aldridge strong in the pivot. Lillard needed to get Batum's attention ... and he did.