Draft:Maryland Miracle
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 The Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, the site of the game, pictured in 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 3, 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 5,112 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Frank Dilley | ||||||||||||||||||
The Maryland Miracle was a game-winning three point shot by Jeff Malone of the Washington Bullets against the Detroit Pistons in National Basketball Association (NBA) game at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland on January 3, 1984. Malone hit the winning three-point shot with one second left from over the backboard, falling out of bounds on the left sideline, to put the Bullets up 103-102 with one second left. Prior to this, the Bullets trailed 102-97 with 11 seconds, inbounding the ball. On a quick catch-and-shoot, Washington's Ricky Sobers hit a three-point from the top of the key to cut the Pistons' lead to 102-100 with nine seconds remaining. The Pistons then inbounded the ball to John Long, an 86.2% free throw shooter, who was fouled by the Bullets' Frank Johnson and was sent to the free throw line to shoot two shots with seven seconds left, but almost miraculously, Long would miss both shots.[1] The second shot was rebounded by Darren Daye, who dribbled thrice before passing it down to the corner to Malone, who threw up a falling back shot from behind-the backboard and made it with a second on the clock. The play-by-play announcer's call was "No good! Rebound Daye! Daye with five seconds into the frontcourt goes to Malone in the corner. Malone throws up a brick left side YEEEESSSSSSSS! OH MY GOODNESS WHAT A SHOT! UH! UH! Unbelievable shot by Jeff Malone on the left baseline, he was behind the basket! And that gives the Bullets a one-point lead 103-102!" It is considered to be one of the greatest game-winning shots in NBA history.[2] Following the Malone shot, and a Pistons timeout with a second left, Bill Laimbeer hit a 25-footer, which appeared to give Detroit the victory but the officials deemed the shot to be too late, and the Bullets won.
Malone has confirmed that many children he has coached have tried to replicate his shot but they "never made it".[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Rohrbach, Ben (May 21, 2020). "Sunk History: Jeff Malone beats the buzzer from behind the backboard". Yahoo. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
- ^ Shoemaker, Steven (January 2, 2024). "Is Jeff Malone's 'Maryland Miracle' the greatest buzzer-beater in D.C. basketball history?". Monumental Sports Network. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
- ^ "Checking in with Jeff Malone, the most underrated star in Bullets history". 26 June 2020.