A buzzer-beater is a shot released before the game clock expires that goes in as time runs out, often deciding the game.
A buzzer-beater is defined by the clock, not the shooter. The shot must leave the player's hand before the game clock reaches zero and then go in; if the release is late by a fraction of a second, the basket does not count, no matter how clean it looks. Officials review these plays frame by frame, which has given the term a second life in the replay era as the sport's most scrutinized fraction of a second.
The famous ones form their own canon. Playoff history is organized partly by buzzer-beaters: series winners, game winners, and heaves from beyond half court that had no business counting except that the rules say a shot is a shot. The term covers quarter ending shots too, though fans reserve their strongest feelings for the ones attached to a final score.
Statistically, buzzer-beaters hide the sport's romance inside ordinary numbers. A fifty foot prayer counts for the same three points as a corner shot, and the box score does not mark it. The glossary keeps the term because quizzes need it: questions about famous finishes are really questions about which of these shots the record books, and the replays, certified as on time.
In use"His half-court heave was a buzzer-beater that sent the crowd into chaos."