New Orleans Pelicans’ Devonte Graham hits a 61m long shot into the buzzer to beat the Thunder

As Devonte Graham sit inside New Orleans Pelicans‘changing room after Wednesday night’s game, an Oklahoma City Thunder The employee walked in with a gift: a 3-point pointer game ball that beat Graham’s wild buzzer.

“One of the guys from the Thunder walked in with the ball and said, ‘Here’s my Christmas present to you,'” recalls a smiling Graham. “I guess they figured out which one it was. I appreciate them for that.”

Graham hit a 61-yard shot as time ran out to give the Pelicans a wild 113-110 win over the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

“When I saw it released from Devonte’s hands, I just said, ‘God, please.’ And he delivered,” said Pelicans coach Willie Green. “It was a crazy end to a game of ups and downs. Both teams fought and fought. I’m glad we’re on the winning side. Great way to end a road trip.”

According to research by ESPN Stats and Information, Graham’s shot is the longest winning handball in the past 25 years, surpassing Tyreke Evans’ 50-foot shot for Memphis in 2010.

Graham’s winning shot came as Thunder fans were cheering for a shot that ended their own frenzy just seconds earlier.

With 1.4 seconds left, Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nail 30 pins to keep the score. Several of the Pelicans players bowed, assuming the game was going to be overtime, but Graham made eye contact with Green and saw the game.

“It’s called Vegas,” Graham said. “Those were three different options for it. Thankfully, we picked the right one.”

Graham said he was initially just going to get the ball out and quickly try to throw it to someone to make a desperate shot because he knew the Pelicans didn’t have any timeouts, thinking they were going to play. overtime. But then he saw Green. That’s when he flips the ball to Josh Hart for him to put the ball in his body and make a right play.

Graham took the pass inside the box, made a dribble and let the ball sink. When it started, he ran around the pitch to celebrate with his teammates before quickly running into the dressing room.

Pelican forward Brandon Ingram, who scored 12 points in the fourth inning to keep the game over, placed a dummy screen for Graham in the play. Mainly because he still didn’t trust the 30th leg of Gilgeous-Alexander.

Ingram said: “Personally, I am still in shock after Shai hit three of his pointers. “But Devonte is still locked. Josh Hart is still locked. We had a late game where we did exactly what he did. He just took a shot.”

According to Second Spectrum, Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot has a 14.1% chance of success. Meanwhile, Graham’s shot has only a 3.5% chance. Combined chance for both shots is 0.5%.

Additionally, according to ESPN Stats and Information, it’s the first game in 25 years to feature multiple shots that start a match or go over from more than 30 meters in the final five seconds of the game.

It was the second time this season that Graham had scored a major goal for New Orleans in the final seconds. In the game against Utah on November 26, Graham hit 3 points with 1.3 seconds left to give the Pelicans a 98-97 win over the Jazz.

To counter the Thunder, the Pelicans aren’t trying to be in a position to need a winner in the game. With Oklahoma City saving 4.5 seconds and the Pelicans leading 110-107, the plan was for whoever was closest to the Thunder player to have the ball to foul. Green said they even asked officials to look for fouls before the attempt to shoot was made.

So when Garrett Temple saw Gilgeous-Alexander catch the ball 35 yards away, he fouled, but it was disallowed. Temple then withdrew his hand to avoid a potential four-pointer as the shot went over the box.

Luckily for New Orleans, Graham topped everything after that.

“The moment the ball went in, Devonte was looking at me,” Green said. “I kind of gave a touch down sign and he knew what that meant. It was a crazy hit. I’m so glad it worked. Our boys took it. Pretty good for the time period. We have room for improvement, but I’m proud of what we did tonight.”