Troy Daniels was an unknown product out of VCU who had spent time between the D-League and the end of the Houston Rockets bench until last night.
Daniels had appeared in just five regular season games before last night, but was pressed into playoff duty when Chandler Parsons fouled out. His three-pointer with 11.9 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Rockets a lead for good and save their season, making the series 2-1.
To his credit, Daniels admitted that his stints in the D-League prepared him for such a moment.
“To be honest, the D-League has prepared me for this moment,” Daniels, who one reporter called “Troy Bailey” in the postgame news conference, said afterward. “You can say whatever you want about the D-League, but I wouldn’t have hit that shot if I wasn’t in the D-League a couple weeks ago. … It’s a dream come true. Plain and simple.”