Miracle at the Meadowlands as seen in person

Sameer Kumar
Jul 30, 2017 · 4 min read
Devin Harris (34)

Monday’s usually mean the start of the school/work week. But Monday, February 23, 2009 was significantly different for the 13-year-old version of me. I knew I had something to look forward to after school; a good old New Jersey Nets game!

My father found 75 cent tickets on Ticketmaster for the Nets vs. Philadelphia 76ers game, and somehow, we got tickets in the lower level section of the Izod Center!

The game was a rollercoaster to say the least. The Sixers appeared to have the game in control after leading the Nets 31–19 in the first quarter. However, New Jersey responded and outscored Philadelphia 32–20 in the second quarter to even up the score 51–51 at the half.

The begin the third, Vince Carter drilled a jumper to give New Jersey the first advantage of the second half. The Nets’ offense was in a nice rhythm and led for much of the first half of the third quarter, but the Sixers went on a 11–3 run to close out the quarter and would lead 75–74 heading into the final period.

The butterflies started settling into my stomach. I was very nervous, and not ready to face the reality of leaving the Izod Center with a loss.

My biggest fear started to feel like reality when the Sixers jumped out to a 7-point lead with around seven minutes left. But in just under a minute, the Nets erased the Sixers’ lead to three points. And just like that, my optimism came back!

The Nets hung in there, but wouldn’t lead until Bobby Simmons stepped up and drilled a 3-pointer on right in the face of Andre Miller to make it 93–92 with 35 seconds left in regulation! But that lead was short-lived as Mo Speights converted on the bucket in the paint with 26 seconds left.

New Jersey went on to take a 20 second timeout. The butterflies were kicking in again; this time twice as hard. I was hoping that we would at least get a 2-pointer to go.

Shortly after the timeout, Devin Harris proceeded to turn the ball over. At that point, the Nets needed to foul, so they fouled Andre Miller and sent him to the free-throw line. As Miller got ready to take his free-throws, many fans, including myself, booed loudly hoping he would be distracted enough to miss. His first free-throw went up, and… it missed! I breathed a huge sigh of relief after that missed free-throw. The Sixers guard, however, converted his second attempt.

New Jersey took another 20 second timeout. I knew there was no room for error on the next play. If they screwed up, it was over.

Coming out of the timeout, the Nets handed the ball to none other than “half-man, half-amazing.” Vince Carter blew by Andre Iguodala, got some serious hang-time but he simply layed it in instead of throwing down a dunk like we’re all used to seeing to tie it up 95–95.

Philadelphia took a 20-second timeout as I was eager to see what would happen next.

With the shot clock winding all the way down to 1.8 seconds, Harris fouled Iguodala to send him to the free-throw line. Iguodala missed the first attempt, and out came a bunch of cheers from the New Jersey faithful. Iguodala drilled the second attempt to make it 96–95.

Lots of anxiety in the air at the Izod Center, as the Nets had no timeouts remaining with 1.8 seconds left. Devin Harris received the ball while being tightly guarded by Iguodala at the half-court line. Harris fumbled the ball while being arguably fouled, but he recovered and flung up a prayer from 47 feet away.

The ball was up, and just after the buzzer sounded.. the ball swished through the net! Everybody in the building, including myself, screamed in utter disbelief. That was the most unbelievable shot I’ve ever seen, whether it be in person or on TV!

At the time, we weren’t sure if it was good. The refs had to watch the replay. As that was going on, the arena was dead silent as anxiety returned to the air. About 2.5 minutes later, the refs raised their arms up and called it good! The building got loud once again, and I proceeded to hug my family members while screaming at the top of my lungs.

While exiting the Izod Center, many fans and I started chanting “DEVIN HARRIS!” At that very moment, it felt like we found our point guard of the future a year after we lost franchise icon Jason Kidd.

Everything felt magical once again at the Meadowlands.

Sameer Kumar
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