Tracy McGrady

With 35 seconds left and the Houston Rockets trailing the San Antonio Spurs by eight points, the Toyota Center had already begun its quiet acceptance of a loss. Then Tracy McGrady took over. What followed was four consecutive three-pointers, one converted as part of a four-point play, the last dropping through with 1.7 seconds remaining to give Houston an 81-80 victory on December 9, 2004. The Spurs were one of the elite defensive teams in the league, coached to suffocate exactly this kind of moment. McGrady described it afterward as an out-of-body experience, something he could not explain and did not believe he could repeat. Two scoring titles and a Hall of Fame career's worth of individual brilliance led to this: thirteen points in thirty-three seconds against the best defensive organization in basketball, the most improbable closing stretch any individual player had produced in league history. McGrady finished with 33 points, two rebounds, eight assists and five steals.