NBA

Amazing 80-Foot Buzzer-Beater Hits Shot Clock, Goes In

Orlando Magic point guard Gilbert Arenas has added a bit of excitement to the Magic since his arrival more than a week ago. He continued to entertain last night when he hit a halftime buzzer-beater from about 80 feet, but unfortunately for the Magic (and H-O-R-S-E) aficionados, the shot didn’t count.

Arenas threw up a bomb after receiving the inbounds pass with 0.5 seconds left on the shot clock. The ball bounced off the rim, then hit said shot clock before heading through the hoop, but it didn’t count because the shot clock is considered out of bounds. No matter. The Magic cruised past the New Jersey Nets 104-88, anyway.

Arenas built a reputation for hitting buzzer-beaters when he was playing with the Washington Wizards, but that was before he earned a reputation for drawing his gun after an oldschool showdown with a teammate over a card game. Despite coming with some baggage, the Magic took a risk and brought Arenas and his mega contract in the hopes that he would add some fire to the Magic. The trade for Areans was one of two big deals. The other brought over Jason Richardson, as well as former Magic star Hedo Turkoglu.

The Magic lost three straight after news of the trade broke, but have now won three in a row, including convincing wins against two of the NBA’s top teams, the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs. Arenas is still coming off the bench to back up point guard Jameer Nelson, but that might not last for too much longer if Arenas starts hitting some big shots that count.