27 years ago today: Jordan buries Cavaliers with 'The Shot'

For Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, it was a postseason breakthrough two years before their first of six NBA titles. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was another northern Ohio sporting tragedy along the lines of "The Drive" and "The Fumble."

Related: 21 years ago today - Reggie Miller's 8 points in 9 seconds

Jordan's jumper from the top of the key as time expired turned a 1-point Cleveland lead into a 101-100 series-clinching Bulls win in the deciding fifth game of the 1989 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Jordan appears to almost suspend in mid-air at the release point, the likely difference in beating Craig Ehlo's contesting of the shot.

Jordan's vertical reaction and Ehlo's frustrated arm swing were expertly recreated in Nike's 2006 "Let Your Game Speak" ad.