1. Buzzer beaters
   Hail Marys
2. Slam dunks
   Dimes

Buzzer beaters are last-second, game-winning baskets. They can be layups or dunks or heaved from the other end of the court with one hand. It is what makes NCAA March Madness mad and is one of the most exciting parts of the NBA game.

1. Conscience
   Stability
2. Ankles
   Concentration

Breaking someone's ankles means you shifted the defender in a way that trips them up, crosses them up or even makes them fall. There are a variety of individual moves that can be used to break one's ankles.

1. Ankle breaker
   Buzzer beater
2. Triple-double
   Alley-oop

The alley-oop comes the French circus cry "allez-hop," which was yelled to announce an acrobat's leap. A player can also throw an alley-oop to themselves if they throw the ball off the backboard, jump, catch it in midair and dunk it.

1. Assist master
   Ball hog
2. High flyer
   Goon

Ball hogs are those who hog the ball and are usually found playing on the playground. By the time a player makes it to NCAA Division I or the NBA, they know enough about the game to know that being a ball hog is detrimental to winning.

1. Full court press
   Motion offense
2. Zone defense
   Fast break

The fast break is an essential part of basketball, and teams with the fastest players can get up the floor and score before the defense can get set up. Fast breaks usually happen after steals or turnovers and rarely occur after a made basket.

1. Crossover
   Double dribble
2. Dagger
   Windmill

One team's dagger is another team's joy. If a team that is up by two points with five seconds left hits a three-pointer, it could seal the team's victory, but it is a dagger for the other team. A buzzer beater is a dagger, but not all daggers are buzzer beaters.

1. Miff
   Airball
2. Windmill
   Dagger

The "air-ball air-ball" chant is synonymous with basketball games and happens every time someone shoots an airball. Every shot in basketball has a unique nickname, and everyone in the NBA has shot an airball at one point in their career.

1. Swish
   Bank shot
2. Wedgie
   Technical foul

Sometimes, but very rarely, a basketball gets stuck between the rim and the backboard and it's nicknamed a wedgie when it does. When this happens in a game, the referee gives the ball to whatever team has the possession arrow.

1. Shot clock
   Concrete
2. Money
   Glass

The NBA backboard is made out of glass, which is also a common nickname for the backboard. Regulation backboards are 72 inches wide and 42 inches tall with a smaller rectangle drawn in the center that is known as the sweet spot.

1. Rivalry
   Mismatch
2. Fair matchup
   Trap

Muggsy Bogues is 5'3'' and Manute Bol was 7'7'' and they would never defend each other. If Bogues was guarding Bol in the paint, Bol would win the mismatch, but if Bol guarded Bogues on the perimeter, Bogues would win.

1. Backwards
   One-handed
2. Underhanded
   Overhanded

A granny shot is an underhanded shot and is also known as a diaper shot. Rick Barry was well-known for using the granny shot on free-throw attempts, and he shot 89% from the line for his career. Very few players brave the risk of embarrassment and utilize the shot.

1. No shots
   Two shots
2. Four shots
   And one

If you get fouled during a made shot - two or three-pointer - you get one free throw attempt, commonly known as an "and one." Most players on the court use the phrase in a celebratory manner when they get fouled during a shot.

1. Nickel
   Penny
2. Dime
   Quarter

A dime is a really pretty assist. Penny, nickel and quarters aren't used in NBA lingo for passes. The use of dime to describe the assist probably stems from the fact the dime is the tiniest coin and dime assists usually thread a very small space. It can also mean a pass that is a perfect 10.

1. Shoot threes
   Post up
2. Dish assists
   Dribble

The center is also known as the "five" and is usually the tallest and biggest player on each team. He spends most of his time posting up down low (on the post aka the block), which means he establishes position under the basket and calls for a pass.

1. Fast break
   Kill the clock
2. Quick score
   Turnover

If there is only 20 seconds left in a game and one team is up by just one point, the smartest offensive strategy is to hold the ball until the time runs out, which is also known as killing the clock. The defensive team will likely commit a foul to stop the clock.

1. Zone defense
   Inbounds defense
2. Mismatch defense
   Numbers defense

Zone defenses are seen more in NCAA basketball and were banned in the NBA until 2001. They tend to slow the game down, but with the NBA game evolving to see more perimeter offense, zone defenses have been used more and more. Each player defends a zone as opposed to a person.

1. A magic trick
   The green light
2. Money on the game
   An injury

Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are examples of players who have had a green light to do whatever they wanted. Very few players reach that level of freedom, and the green light is reserved for the best players in specific situations.

1. Skyhook
   Windmill
2. Fade away
   Step back

At 7'2,'' Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's almost unstoppable signature move was the skyhook shot. He raised the ball as high as possible in one hand and hooked it over his defender in a high arcing shot that very few players could defend.

1. Zone defense
   Clear-path foul
2. Ejection
   Flagrant foul

In its simplest terms, a clear-path foul is when an offensive player has an empty court in front of them and gets fouled on their way to scoring. The rule has undergone many changes over the past 10 years.

1. D
   Jumper
2. Handles
   Ups

Kyrie Irving, Allen Iverson and Jason Williams are basketball players who are known to have really good handles. The players with the best handles in the NBA are usually point guards who control the ball a lot. Centers and forwards usually have the worst handles.

1. The block
   The key
2. The arc
   Half court

The key is the 16-foot wide area from the free throw line to the backboard plus the free throw circle, which is painted around the free throw line at a six-foot radius. The top of the circle is the top of the key.

1. Heat check
   Dagger
2. Buzzer beater
   Hail Mary

A heat check is when a player who is on fire takes an impractical shot to check how "on fire" they actually are. This shot also ends up keeping their "heat" in check because it's usually a miss. If it goes in, that player then has the green light next time down the floor.

1. And one
   Slam dunk
2. Field goal
   Free throw

All two- and three-point shots in the NBA are called field goals. One-point shots are called free throws. Field goals are commonly known as baskets or buckets and there is no four-point shot in the NBA except at All-Star contests.

1. Motion offense
   Pick and pop
2. Triangle offense
   Sideline play

The pick and roll is a popular play and is usually run with a center picking and rolling. A pick and pop is usually run with a guard picking and popping open for a jump shot. The best shooters on the floor are selected to run the pick and pop play.

1. Hack-a-Shaq
   Zone defense
2. Full court press
   Half court trap

Shaq was notoriously bad at free throws and notoriously good at dunks, so whenever he had the ball in a dunking position, the opposing team would foul him and force him to shoot two free throws instead of letting him dunk. The defensive practice is still in use and is still known as Hack-a-Shaq.

1. Larry Bird
   Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2. Michael Jordan
   Jerry West

The NBA logo is a silhouette of Lakers great Jerry West, giving him the nickname The Logo. West is also known as Mr. Clutch but only won one championship and played in nine of them. He is the only player, however, to win finals MVP while on the losing table.

1. Wet
   Dry
2. A ball hog
   A dirty player

A nothing-but-net shot is called a swish and the ball makes a "drip" sound when it swishes through the net. Wet is an adjective that describes a player who hits a lot of swishes. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson - two of the best three-point shooters in the league - are known as the Splash Brothers.

1. Uptown
   The key
2. The paint
   Downtown

Anywhere beyond the three-point line is known as downtown. Way beyond the three-point line is known as way downtown, and there is no place on the court known as uptown. You can, however, be so far beyond the three-point line that you're shooting "from the parking lot."

1. One-and-done
   European
2. G-League
   Short

One-and-done is an adjective used to describe an NBA player who played just one year of college. Because of NBA rules, players can't enter the league directly out of high school, and this leads them to play one year of college ball.

1. Said a prayer
   Pointed to the sky
2. Took a knee
   Shot the ball

In football, a Hail Mary is a deep heave to the end zone at the end of a game. In basketball, a prayer is the same thing except the goal is to get the ball in the basket. A half-court prayer is a game-tying or winning shot from half court.

1. Dunk
   Airball
2. Swish
   Brick

To brick a shot is to miss the shot by hitting the rim. A missed shot where the ball hits hard off the rim is also known as a brick, so the word can be used as a noun or a verb. Shaq was known for bricking his free throws but wasn't known for airballing them.

1. Play full court defense
   Drop a lot of dimes
2. Dunk the ball a lot
   Make a lot of three-pointers

Steph Curry, Ray Allen and Reggie Miller are all examples of NBA deep threats and are known for shooting an exceptionally high percentage of made three-pointers. Deep threats change the entire strategy of the game.

1. The worst fans
   Part owners
2. The sixth man
   Problematic

Each NBA team is made up of five players on the court at a time. The fans are known as the sixth man. The sixth man is also the non-starter who plays the most minutes for each team, and the NBA gives out a "Sixth Man of the Year" award each year.

1. 5 turnovers in 5 minutes
   55 points
2. 5 fouls and 5 points
   55 dribbles

Michael Jordan famously dropped 55 points on the New York Knicks just five games into his NBA return in 1995. He was still wearing No. 45 and it is one of his highest scoring games. The Bulls won by two points.

1. 10-4
   Triple-double
2. Four by ten
   Quadruple-double

A triple-double is when a player records double digit "positive" stats in at least three categories,. Turnovers are not a positive stat. Ten points, 10 assists and 10 turnovers is considered a double-double. Ten points, 10 assists, 10 turnovers and 10 rebounds is a triple-double.