30 best shots in NBA Playoffs history
By John Buhler
15. Dudley Bradley’s improbable game winner versus Philadelphia 76ers; 1986 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Game 1
This has to be the most unlikely game-winner of in NBA playoff history. It only adds to the mystique of what all unfolded in Game 1 of the 1986 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the favored Philadelphia 76ers and the underdog Washington Bullets.
Philadelphia was the No. 3 seed in the series and Washington was the No. 6 seed. The 76ers held a comfortable 17-point lead in Game 1 at home. Washington kept grinding away until the Bullets upset the 76ers in Game 1 95-94 on a three-pointer from Dudley Bradley.
Power forward Dan Roundfield would put in a tip-back to put the Bullets down by only two. On the ensuing Washington possession, Roundfield would in-bound the ball with three seconds left down two. Bradley would pull off a series of spin moves before sinking the go-ahead three at the buzzer.
Philadelphia was stunned that Bradley was even able to get a shot off with that tight on-ball defense, much less make the prayer of a three-point heave. You better believe that Bradley called bank because it was open at The Spectrum that night in Philadelphia for Washington.
The 76ers would go on to win that best-of-five series Game 5. They would fall to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games. Not to say that the Bullets would have knocked off either Milwaukee or Boston on that side of the bracket, but who would have thought Bradley would have capped off a 17-point comeback with a bank-shot three-pointer?