Immanuel Quickley hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to down the Hornets on Wednesday night

Immanuel Quickley sent Charlotte Hornets fans home disappointed on Wednesday night.

Quickley drilled a game-winning, buzzer-beating three-pointer for the Toronto Raptors to beat the Hornets by a final score of 97-96. After LaMelo Ball hit a layup on the other end to give Charlotte a two-point lead with 1.6 seconds left in regulation, Quickely received an in-bounds pass from Sandro Mamukelashvili over a foot beyond the three-point arc, contorted his body to face the rim, and rose up over defender Sion James before burying the contested jumper as time ran out.

“That’s Immanuel Quickley, man.” Teammate RJ Barrett said postgame. “Once he shot that ball, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re good. We’re going home.'”

Pure elation from Quickley and the rest of the Raptors commenced. The call from Eric Collins, the Hornets’ play-by-play man, was just as beautiful for the viewers as it was painful for himself and Charlotte fans. Quickley finished with 21 points on the night, but none more important than the final three, which completed Toronto’s comeback after trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Immanuel Quickley with the game-winner buzzer-beater vs. the Hornets!

Collins with "NOOOOOOOOOOO" pic.twitter.com/ImQrnzBHG7

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) January 8, 2026

That was a semi-important win for the Raptors, too, even if it came against a Hornets team that fell to 13-24 with the loss. Toronto is now 23-15 after a slow start to the season, currently sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings. It marked the franchise’s third straight win and fifth over its last six games played. This group is playing good basketball with Quickley, Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Brandon Ingram leading the charge.

Quickley, the 26-year-old former Kentucky guard, is already in his sixth NBA season and third with the Raptors. After appearing in just 33 games last season, he’s surpassed that in 2025-26 with 37 games played a little after the start of the new year. The 6-foot-2 native of Maryland is averaging 16.4 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 43.1/35.4/80.5 this season.

Not a bad run so far for the one-time SEC Player of the Year.

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