Brandon Miller records first buzzer beater of 2024-25 NBA season

Brandon Miller (Google Images)

For the first time during the 2024-25 National Basketball Association, a buzzer beater determined the winner. In a 108-107 Charlotte Hornets win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Hornets small forward Brandon Miller of Antioch, Tennessee made a two point layup at the rim to give Charlotte the one point win.

With six seconds left, the Pistons took a 107-106 lead on a two-foot two point layup by Ron Holland of Duncanville, Texas. The Detroit lead at the end of the game was short lived. The Hornets tried to win the game on a three-point attempt from 26 feet by Hornets power forward Grant Williams of Houston, Texas with three seconds left, but was missed. Then, Miller got the offensive rebound with two seconds left, and successfully made a layup at the rim. NBA officials reviewed the play to see if Miller got the shot off and released the basketball with time remaining on the clock, and he did.

The buzzer beater on Wednesday was also significant because the Hornets won without one of their big players on the court. Charlotte did not have center Nick Richards (seven feet, 245 pounds), or center Mark Williams (seven feet, 240 pounds) collecting the offensive rebound when the game was on the line. Richards is out with a broken rib, and Williams is out with a foot injury. Miller, meanwhile, is only 6’9″, 200 pounds.

With the win, the Hornets improved to a record of three wins and five losses. That is one seventh of their total wins from the 2023-24 NBA regular season.