Greatest Rocket shot of all time

The birth of his big balls!

 

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On the good side:

1. Mario Elie's "Kiss of death" he shot that ball WAY to early, with like 8 seconds left, and the game tied....I was like NOOOOOOOO....then....YESSSSS !!!!

2. Ralph's shot against the Lakers, contorting twisting...Lakers go home....

On the bad side or worst shot:

1. John Stockton's 3pter at the buzzer which actually stopped us from getting a chance to see Hakeem Vs Jordan...

2. Clyde Drexler's shot JUST before John Stockton's shot...too early in the shot clock and allowed the Jazz to take a NO PRESSURE last second shot.

DD

 

1. Sampson's "shot heard around the world"
2. Elie's "kiss of death"
3. TMac's "miracle 35 sec."

 

hakeem's three @ orlando

 

His three was in Houston in game 4.

In orlando, it was the tip-in 2 pointer off of a Clyde miss.

 

1- Sampson's shot vs. the Lakers. The probably ranks as not the best shot in Rockets' history, but is probably one of the best shots in NBA history.

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2- I have to go with Eddie Johnson's shot vs. the Jazz even though we lost the series. I just loved the little dance he did after he made the 3. It cracks me up every time I see it.

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3. Mario Elie's "Kiss of Death" as everyone said.

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4. All 4 of T-mac's 3s against the Spurs.

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Watching these videos over and over just never gets old.

 

I can't even tell what happened in that Sampson footage.

 

I'll third the nomination for the shot that lead to our first ring.

Fran Blinebury from the Chronicle Archives (subscription) on Sam's Big Balls:

http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1994_1208083

'94 NBA FINALS/GAME 3/Go-ahead 3-pointer a swish come true

By FRAN BLINEBURY
Staff

NEW YORK -- Hakeem Olajuwon received the ball down low on the left side of the basket in that spot that often feels more crowded than a Manhattan subway platform at rush hour. He could feel Patrick Ewing leaning on his back, and he could feel the hulking presence of Charles Oakley to his left, slapping and chopping at his arms. He tried to spin right along the baseline, and suddenly there was Anthony Mason in his path, joining this mugging and growling like a hungry bear.

The clock was ticking down, the denizens of Madison Square Garden were all up on their feet, and this was the play that was going to either make or break the Rockets in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, maybe even make or break the season.

Derek Harper had just slung in an 18-foot jumper down at the other end of the floor, and now the Knicks were in front by two. The Rockets' 14-point lead from the third quarter was history, and so would their confidence be gone if they took another fourth-quarter stumble.

They were inside the final minute, inside that time when every move you make is so difficult, every decision is crucial, every shot virtually drips with significance.

Olajuwon couldn't get free. He finally wheeled into the lane and had a chance to put up an off-balance hook shot. But at the last possible second, he caught a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. No time to catch a number and no time to recognize the face.

But the MVP made the pass. He just flicked the ball outside to whoever it was that was standing wide-open beyond the 3-point line and hoped for the best.

"Then, I saw it was Sam," Olajuwon said. "All I thought was, "Good!' "

And it was.

Good. Real good. Right into the bottom of the basket. Nothing but net.

Sam Cassell, the rookie without nerves, stepped right up and knocked it down. The biggest shot of his career, maybe the biggest shot of all the careers of all the Rockets to this point.

Good. With 32.6 seconds to play, Cassell buried that baby and the Rockets were back from the brink. It gave them an 89-88 lead that eventually turned into a 93-89 victory, and it was the kid who pulled their wagon again down the stretch.

He went to the foul line twice in the last 22 seconds. He stood there all alone on that line, and he calmly sank four free throws that iced it. He saw the fans waving the signs that said "Brick!" from just beyond the baseline, and he smiled at them. He heard Spike Lee calling out from his courtside seat, and he shook his head and laughed.

Cassell finished with 15 points and scored nine of them in the fourth quarter. You get the feeling that if you cut this guy open, ice cubes would come tumbling out.

Remember Game 7 of the Phoenix series when Cassell stepped up and poured in 22 points? This was the next step.

The stakes keep getting higher and higher, but he stays cooler than a guy taking a nap on top of an air conditioner.

"I know it's the Finals, and I know all of this is big," Cassell said. "But I'm trying to just have some fun. I'm trying to play like I've always played in every game I've ever been in.

"Sometimes the games are close, and sometimes you have to make those plays. Everybody in this league was the big guy on his team sometime back in high school or college. We've all been the go-to guy who's had to step up and make a big shot. You make it or you don't. You win or you lose."

The Rockets lost Game 2 at The Summit on Friday night, and there were a lot of fingers pointed in Cassell's direction for his inability to run the offense smoothly in the fourth quarter. It was one of the rare times this spring that we have seen the rookie play like a rookie.

"I had to pull Sam aside," said Mario Elie, who has taken it upon himself to be Cassell's mentor. "There were some guys out there on the floor the other night who were doing some sniping at Sam. Guys were feeling the heat of the situation, and they were taking it out on him.

"All I told him was that he's been good enough for us to have made it all the way to the Finals and he's been a big part of it. I told him to ignore the talk from everybody and just play his game.

"But I didn't have to tell him to shoot. Sam loves to shoot."

Cassell shot that 3-pointer as fearlessly as somebody warming up in an empty gym. Cassell shot those free throws smoothly and nervelessly in the most famous basketball arena in the land.

It didn't matter that this was Madison Square Garden? No, this was just another place to show all of those moves and all of those shots that were learned while growing up and testing himself against the local legends on an outdoor concrete court in east Baltimore. The name of that court was Madison Square.

So Cassell had come full circle, from Madison Square to Madison Square Garden, and now the ball was coming to him for the shot of the year.

"Dream created it all," he said. "I was wide-open, he made the pass, and I just had to take the shot."

Good.

Real good.

 

WOW, after watching that TMAC footage, I feel slightly more confident about the upcoming season.

But....

The kiss of death shot is a main reason why we call this site CLUTCHfans.net

that shot was simply CLUTCH and we are CLUTCH CITY!

 

That tip in two by Hakeem with point whatever left on the clock...

I remember the look on Hakeem's face. He didn't think he made the shot in time and then slowly you see his face transform as he realizes he made it.

that was awesome...

 

Against the Warriors in the reagular season of 1993, we were down by 2 with like 7 secs left, and we inbounded the ball into Dream in the post, but he lost control of it and they ball flew down the baseline going out of bounce and Vernon Maxwell grabbed the loose ball and shot a fadeaway three pointer falling out of bounds at the buzzer and burried it! Wonderful game....anybody remember?

 

Kenny Smith's 3, Game 1 Orlando. Kenny actually hit several 3s in the 4th in that game and single handed drug the Rockets to Victory. That win mentally crippled the Magic and led to the sweep.

 

I feel that we have yet to witness the greatest Rocket shot of all time...that belongs to a guy by the name of Steve Novak...coming soon. When? I don't know.

lol

...But as of now, I gotta go with ThE KisS oF DeaTh...classic, classic, moment in Rockets history. I can't really comment on the one by Ralph Sampson because I didn't see it. (I was just a baby, lol)

 

Sam's shot was a strong 2nd to Max's 3 pointer in game 7. The reason I put Max over Sam's and Mario's Kiss of Death is because after it went in and put us up by 7, EVERYONE knew we had the game. It was the climactic moment of our first championship! The last 1:30 (give or take a few seconds) was an extended celebration. For me, Max's shot and him being tackled at mid-court by OT and the others after the timeout was the most unforgettable moment in Rockets history. I still get chills thinking about it. Mario's shot was #2.

 

I was at Auchan's Hypermarket and missed most of the game. I happened to walk up to one of their TV's just in time to see Nick the Brick miss 4 in a row, Kenny drill his 3, and Horry slap away the potential game-winner. The stunned reaction of the Orlando fans was priceless.

 

i thought it was a home game against miami?

another maxwell moment was on the road against the spurs in 93 where he went off at the end and tied the game with a 3, then hit a jumper at the right free throw mark and nail the game winner at the buzzer...

 

gotta to go with the sampson shot....has to go down as one of the greatest upsets in NBA history.

 

watch the clip in post # 22.

Watch the ball as it leaves the inbounder's hands.....Sampson catches pass in mid-air and pivots in mid-air and redirects the ball into the hole.........

That plus kiss of death....and 13 in 35

 

BTW, RAID's clip on post #22 shows the Sampson shot in slow motion twice...so go check it out.


*sorry, can't edit.