Los Angeles Lakers: Each player’s greatest moment before the Lakers
By Amaar Burton
Troy Daniels
As a rookie with the Houston Rockets back in 2013-14, Troy Daniels played in only five regular-season games. In Houston’s first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, Daniels didn’t make it off the bench in the first two games.
In Game 3, Daniels had his first shining moment as a pro.
The undrafted kid out of VCU found himself on the court during the game’s most crucial stretch, with less than 30 seconds to go in overtime and the score tied.
Rockets star James Harden tried to penetrate the Portland defense and was stripped, creating a loose-ball scramble. Jeremy Lin picked it up and whipped a pass to an open Daniels, who calmly drained a 3-pointer that proved to be the game-winner.
In recent playoff history, Daniels might be the most unexpected, obscure player to hit such a big shot.
Daniels followed that up by scoring 17 points in Game 4, which remains his postseason career-high effort, but the Rockets ultimately lost the series.