Giannis and his Bucks teammates speak on game-winning shot over Pacers
Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks teammates speak on his game-winning shot over Pacers on Nov. 3, 2025 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s turnaround buzzer-beater against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 3 lifted the Milwaukee Bucks to an emotional win and sent the boo-happy Pacers fans home dissatisfied.
It’s relatively rare to see an NBA buzzer-beater in the classic sense: A shot that falls through as time expires, with no chance for a response, that allows the shooter’s team to win the game (whether because they were tied and trailing).
Basketball-Reference has a list of 851 of those in NBA history, and the Giannis winner will become number 852.
The Bucks have now authored 34 of those shots. Here are the most recent:
Damian Lillard (Jan. 14, 2024, vs. Sacramento)
Bucks fans may feel like they didn’t get enough “Dame Time” moments when Lillard was in Milwaukee for two seasons, but they did get at least this shot. Played on the same day as the Packers defeating the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC playoffs, Lillard’s three-pointer in overtime turned a two-point deficit into a victory, 143-142.
Milwaukee inbounded with 5.2 seconds left, and Lillard immediately got the ball back and raced upcourt for the 32-foot winner.
“He just pulled up and when I saw the ball in the air, I was like, ‘This (expletive) is going in, this (expletive is going in), this (expletive) is going in,” Antetokounmpo said through a grin, looking skyward and rolling his head as if he were watching the ball. “And it went in. And it was like, everything was like slow motion.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Jan. 4, 2017, at New York)
It was one of the seminal moments in the ascension of Giannis Antetokounmpo, played in the hallowed Madison Square Garden. His fadeaway jumper after 11 dribbles against Lance Thomas went through, giving Milwaukee a 105-104 win, to the delight of exuberant announcer Gus Johnson.
“I was patient,” Antetokounmpo said. “I knew I could shoot the ball over the top, and he was not going to block my shot. I just wanted to make sure I took the last shot.”
John Henson (Oct. 29, 2016, vs. Brooklyn)
Henson corralled and tipped in Jabari Parker’s driving miss, giving Milwaukee a 110-108 victory in the second game of the season. The Bucks had a six-point lead late but lost it with a series of turnovers, and Bojan Bogdanović tied the game with 11 seconds left on a three-pointer.
“I just happened to be in the right spot and finished,” Henson said. “It was perfect timing because we wanted to take the last shot, and (Parker) gave us a chance to get the rebound, too. It worked out in my favor.”
Jerryd Bayless (April 25, 2015, vs. Chicago)
Bayless took an elite inbounds pass from Jared Dudley and forced Game 5 of their first-round playoff series, causing a chaotic scene at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Khris Middleton stripped the ball from Derrick Rose and got a timeout with 1.3 seconds left to set up the winner. The Bucks then won Game 5 of the series, too, before falling in a sixth.
“With me and John (Henson), when we run our pick-and-roll, it’s just trying to find the open guy, because they’re going to have to help off somebody,” Bayless said. “Coach Kidd let us go, and it was great. It showed he trusted us and I’m excited he did it.”
Khris Middleton (March 25, 2015, vs. Miami)
One of the crazier buzzer-beaters in Bucks history, Middleton launched a 24-foot heave barely out of his fingertips as the buzzer sounded, and it dropped through to give Milwaukee an 89-88 win and an eruption from the home crowd. The Bucks had been down 16 points in the fourth quarter, but Middleton was able to get a shot when Zaza Pachulia corralled a rebound and sent the ball to the perimeter as he was falling out of bounds.
The frenzied sequence in the final 10 seconds began when Bayless won a jump ball. You kind of just need to watch this one.
“I knew it was ticking down,” said Middleton, who sank his second three-point buzzer-beater of the season. “I knew I had to catch and shoot. I can’t think about anything else but just catch and let it go.”
The Bucks snapped a six-game losing streak.
Khris Middleton (Dec. 15, 2015, at Phoenix)
Middleton managed to coax down a three-pointer that turned a one-point deficit into a 96-94 win, bouncing off the backboard and rim before spinning into the net. But there was a pall over the game, with rookie Jabari Parker crumpling to the floor and needing to get carried to the locker room in the third quarter. The No. 2 overall pick in the preceding draft had torn his ACL, and he wouldn’t be back until the following November.
It was Dudley on the assist for this one, too, returning an inbound to Middleton, who was closely guarded but managed to create the necessary space. Dudley also hit a three-pointer with 28.6 seconds left off a Bayless assist to give his team a brief lead.
Monta Ellis (Feb. 27, 2013, at Houston)
A desperate, off-balance three-pointer from 27 feet nearly bounced out but then settled and fell through the net, turning a tie game into a 110-107 victory at the Toyota Center in Houston. Ellis immediately ran off the floor and into the locker room.
“I didn’t want to go into overtime,” Ellis said. “I was kind of winded. The buzzer went off when it was rolling around the rim. There was no need for me to come back out.”
Ellis scored after a hurried pass from Brandon Jennings, who had gotten trapped with time running out, and Ellis had no time to do anything but catch, spin and heave.
Speaking of Jennings …
Brandon Jennings (Nov. 3, 2012, vs. Cleveland)
Jennings electrified the home-opener crowd with a three-pointer that broke the tie, moments after Kyrie Irving had just tied the game with seven-tenths of a second on the clock. Mike Dunleavy inbounded to Jennings, who swiftly launched his shot over Anderson Varejao. It landed purely through the net.
“We run the play every day in practice so I knew I would get a good open look,” Jennings said. “They played it well. I just got it as high as I could and I knew once it left my hand and I saw how straight it was going, I knew it was going in.”
Andrew Bogut (Dec. 8, 2010, vs. Indiana)
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute tossed a pinpoint lob to the basket on an inbounds play that began with five-tenths of a second remaining on the clock, and Bogut raced around his defender, reached up and tipped it in at the buzzer to give the Bucks a 97-95 thriller.
“We’ve actually run that play in practice about 100 times,” Bogut said. “This is our go-to play in late-game situations. More important than my tip was the pass. If that ball is off one centimeter or two centimeters to one side or it’s short or it’s long, it’s very hard to get a clean tip at it. Obviously Brandon Jennings’ screen, too. For a little guy, he got into Jeff Foster and got me open.”
Ramon Sessions (April 2, 2008, at Washington)
Sessions hit a 19-footer from the corner that turned a two-point deficit at the Verizon Center into a 110-109 victory. Sessions, who also had eight assists in the game, was coming into his own as a young player, although it came shortly after the Bucks had been eliminated from playoff contention.
“I think it’s huge for him,” coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “He’s done a tremendous job all year. (Assistant coach Bill) Peterson has done a good job of kind of taking him under his wing and working with him. We think Ramon has a future.”
Bogut took an inbound with 1.1 seconds left, shuffled it to Sessions in the corner, and boom.
Michael Redd (Feb. 26, 2008, vs. Cleveland)
Perhaps surprising, this is Redd’s only true buzzer-beater with the Bucks. Mo Williams scored 37 points on the night, but Redd’s deep three-pointer over Wally Szczerbiak’s outstretched hand gave the Bucks a win, 105-102, over LeBron James and the Cavs.
“I’ve never hit one like that to win a game,” Redd said. “But I’m happy that it went in and it was just a great game to watch. Back and forth. I knew it was going in as soon as it left my hand. It felt great the whole time. We just have to stay humble now. Take each game at a time and don’t look ahead. We’ve got to get some more wins. That’s the key.”
Andrew Bogut (Dec. 20, 2005, vs. San Antonio)
Toni Kukoč inbounded with seven-tenths of a second left in overtime, and it was a perfect pass to the rookie Bogut, who caught the ball and dropped in an eight-footer almost like a volleyball setter to beat the reigning world-champion Spurs, 109-107.
It was a good finish for Bogut, who had been the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft just a few months earlier.
“Just the way we drew it up,” said guard Mo Williams, who was virtually unstoppable at times on offense and led Milwaukee with 28 points, though he missed a game-winner in regulation — which would have been his third winner of the season.
Mo Williams (Dec. 2, 2005, at Washington)
The game was tied when Williams buried a three-pointer to give the Bucks a 105-102 victory. Williams scored 17 of Milwaukee’s final 19 points over the final seven minutes, and the winner came from 27 feet over defender Chucky Atkins.
“I know what Mike Redd feels like now,” said Williams, who finished with a career-best 35 points and his second buzzer-beater of the young season.
Williams would later hit a true buzzer beater against the Bucks in 2010 as a member of the Cavaliers.
Mo Williams (Nov. 12, 2005, vs. Indiana)
In this one, Williams’ three-pointer snatched victory from a two-point defeat, capping a 20-point rally for a 103-102 win. Indiana’s Fred Jones missed a free throw with seven seconds left, enabling Williams to rush the ball up the floor and hit from 29 feet.
Ray Allen (Dec. 21, 2000, vs. New Jersey)
Before he was integral to his team’s run to the 2001 Eastern Conference finals, the future Hall of Famer Allen hit his first-career buzzer-beater. The Bucks had blown a 28-point lead in the third quarter but were saved for the 80-78 victory. Milwaukee had been outscored in the fourth quarter before the shot, 31-10, and outrebounded, 16-4.
“The lack of leadership and toughness of our basketball team in the second half, including me, was disgusting,” coach George Karl said. “Period. Underlined. Capital letters. Disgusting.”
Karl had ripped his starters when his team got out to a 3-9 start, but this win put them at 13-12.
The other buzzer beaters in Bucks historyGlenn Robinson, Feb. 3, 2000, at Utah (three-pointer breaks tie)Tim Thomas, Jan. 29, 2000, at Seattle (two-pointer breaks tie)Elliot Perry, Jan. 25, 1997, at Indiana (two-pointer breaks tie)Fred Roberts, Dec. 7, 1990, at Atlanta (two-pointer flips outcome)Jay Humphries, Dec. 11, 1988, vs. Los Angeles Lakers (two-pointer flips outcome)Jack Sikma, Feb. 12, 1987, vs. Seattle (two-pointer breaks tie)Ricky Pierce, Dec. 28, 1985, at Cleveland (two-pointer breaks tie)Paul Mokeski, April 12, 1985, at Boston (free throw breaks tie)Sidney Moncrief, Nov. 13, 1983, vs. Seattle (free throws flip outcome)Sidney Moncrief, May 1, 1982, vs. Philadelphia (two-pointer flips outcome in playoffs)Sidney Moncrief, Jan. 26, 1982, at Los Angeles Lakers (two-pointer breaks tie)Brian Winters, Feb. 6, 1980, vs. Cleveland (two-pointer breaks tie)Marques Johnson, Nov. 3, 1979, at Chicago (two-pointer breaks tie)Marques Johnson, Oct. 22, 1978, vs. Golden State (two-pointer breaks tie)Brian Winters, Dec. 8, 1977, at Golden State (two-pointer flips outcome)Quinn Buckner, March 12, 1977, vs. Indiana (two-pointer breaks tie)Swen Nater, Feb. 17, 1977, vs. Golden State (two-pointer breaks tie)Jon McGlocklin, Jan. 27, 1975, at New Orleans Jazz (two-pointer breaks tie)