This Is the Best Shot of the NBA Season

Just watch that video of Paul George hitting an impossibly deep three-pointer for the Indiana Pacers in the fourth quarter of a one-point game game against the Detroit Pistons last night. Watch it again. One more time, if you don’t mind. Mesmerizing, isn’t it?

First, George catches the ball and it looks as though he’s going to shoot it, which is obviously impossible because he’s basically standing at midcourt. And yet there he is, looking at the hoop like it’s the size of a hot tub. Next, he sticks his hand out, as if to indicate that he’s not to be touched. It’s unclear whether the hand is for the Pistons defender or his Pacers teammate, but whoever it’s directed at, it clearly functions like The Force: “There is no basketball player to defend here.” Everyone else simply stops and watches.

Then George gathers himself, and launches a shot. Somehow, he makes a 35-footer look like a 10-footer — no added effort, no heightened doubt, just his typical shooting motion. The ball travels. His arm extends outward. Swish. Crowd explodes, and George just stands there while teammates run by giving him high fives, almost as if to say, “What, you were expecting something else?” The Pacers won the game 101-94.