Hornets' Marco Belinelli came *this close* to hitting the coolest buzzer-beater ever

Dan Devine
·Senior NBA writer

Marco Belinelli does not lack confidence or creativity. Sadly, he just lacks time.

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With the Detroit Pistons clinging to a 115-114 lead over the Charlotte Hornets and 0.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of a weird and wild game, Belinelli stood with the ball on the sideline, ready to trigger the inbounds in search of a basket that would complete a furious fourth-quarter comeback that erased a 19-point deficit and got them within hailing distance of victory. The Hornets only had a half-second left, though; their options were limited.

That seemed to be the plan, as the Pistons clung tight to their assignments as the play began, with forward Marcus Morris turning his back to the inbounder so he could try to cut off passing lanes and be in position to quickly double-team whichever Hornet was racing to the ball for a quick catch-and-shoot try. That’s when your man Marco decided it was time to get creative:

The quick-thinking Italian bounced the ball off Morris’ butt, stepped inbounds, grabbed the carom, rose and fired. Like Morris, the stunned fans in attendance at the Palace at Auburn Hills could do nothing but watch the ball sail through the air, bank high off the window and splash through the net.

Luckily for Morris and the Pistons, the referees waved off Belinelli’s brilliant bucket, judging on the floor that it came after time had run out on the game clock. Video review confirmed that call, allowing Detroit to escape with a one-point win.

Detroit dominated the first three quarters thanks in large part to strong play from a second unit led by forward Tobias Harris (25 points on 10-for-16 shooting) and center Boban Marjanovic (a surprising 15 points and 19 rebounds in spelling starter Andre Drummond, who battled foul trouble), and led by 19 points early in the fourth. From there, though, Charlotte hit the gas, scoring 42 points in 9 1/2 minutes led by All-Star hopeful Kemba Walker, who accounted for 28 of ’em — 20 of his own on 9-for-11 shooting, plus three assists leading to eight points, capped by a Spencer Hawes 3-pointer that got the Hornets within four with 1:44 to go.

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Hawes made another 3 — his third of the period, this time off a Belinelli feed — to knot the game at 113 with eight seconds to go. On the Pistons’ next trip, though, the refs whistled Walker for getting a little — and, I mean, just a little — too physical with Detroit point guard Reggie Jackson …

… who went to the line and knocked down a pair, putting Detroit back up by two with just 1.9 seconds remaining. On the other end, Morris was called for a foul with the clock stopped while Charlotte attempted to inbound the ball, sending the Hornets to the stripe for one free throw, which Belinelli made to cut the deficit to one, and give them one more shot for the win. What the Hornets got wasn’t what Steve Clifford drew up, but it was inspired and, somehow, successful … or, it would’ve been, if only there had been, say, seven-tenths of a second left on the clock instead of five.

Still: big up yourself, Marco Belinelli. You’ve got brass ones. But then, we already knew that.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!