Brooklyn Nets: Reliving Brook Lopez’s Glorious Buzzer Beater

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Mar 21, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) celebrates his game winning buzzer beating shot against the Detroit Pistons with teammates during the fourth quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Brook Lopez‘s shot against the Detroit Pistons helped the Brooklyn Nets come out victorious on March 28. Here’s a blow-by-blow breakdown of the dramatic shot.

Lopez’s buzzer beater in the Nets’ March 28 contest against the Detroit Pistons may be the best play of the season for the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets held a late lead in the fourth quarter, but it ultimately evaporated. With 2.4 seconds left in the game, the Nets had the final shot. You know the rest.

But what led to that shot? What play did Kenny Atkinson draw up to lead to that Lopez bucket? Here’s how it went!

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The Setup

The play came off of a timeout. Tobias Harris had just scored a bucket to tie the game up at 96. Fortunately, there was still time left on the clock for the Nets to advance the ball and draw up a play. The lineup on the court on offense was Isaiah Whitehead–Randy Foye–Caris LeVert–Quincy Acy–Brook Lopez. Starting point guard Jeremy Lin was out with an ankle injury. Foye was the inbound man. One trend I‘ve noticed is that veteran guys usually are the inbounders on plays like this. This is the initial setup…

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Lopez is in the deep post, guarded by Aron Baynes. LeVert is opposite him. Whitehead is at the free throw line extended area, closest to Foye. Acy is on the deep wing.

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The ball hasn’t been inbounded yet. Lopez sets a cross screen for LeVert. The two essentially swap spots. LeVert streaks to the corner, acting as a decoy.

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The ball still isn’t inbounded yet (this all occurred in under five seconds, so yeah – this is a heavy breakdown). With LeVert streaking to the corner, this frees up the paint. Ish Smith plays the angle, cutting off any possible pass attempts to LeVert. Whitehead screens down for Lopez, and Lopez then cuts towards the ball.