Every morning (or late-afternoon), I am going to breakdown the some key possessions from the previous night’s games. Good possessions/bad possessions you can find them all here.

Just one possession here today, you can probably guess which one it is…yup…the final play that Boston ran in Miami. Dwyane Wade did his usual Dwyane Wade thing and scored 4 points in5.5 seconds, giving the Heat a 2 point lead with .6 seconds left.

The Celtics ran an awesome play here, there is no question about it. However, the Heat made it easier for them to run the play. Paul Pierce is the man inbounding the basketball here. He is 6′7″. Quienten Richardson is covering him, he is 6′6″. You know that with .6 seconds left, this is going to be a lob play, so why not put a big man on him? If you aren’t comfortable with O’Neal going on him (you want him in the paint to defend the lob), take a reserve big man (Joel Anthony) and throw him out there. There isn’t enough time for Pierce to get the ball back, so you don’t have to worry about the mismatch. That would have made the pass harder to make. Plus look where Richardson is standing, he is a few feet off of him, as if to cut off the sideline pass, he should be up closer to him.

As the play starts to develop, Ray Allen (a decoy) runs to the three point line, since there is enough time to catch and shoot, you have to follow him out there.

Rondo comes off of a Big Baby screen, with his defender trailing him, expecting help from Jermaine O’Neal. Also, Udonis Haslem is a bit at fault here too. Brain Scalabrine is standing about 35-40 feet from the basket (the same spot he was standing at as the play started). Leave him out there. He should be closer to the paint to help on any cut to the basket.

The final part of the play is Big Baby releasing to the sideline. Jermaine O’Neal, probably remembering that shot he made against Orlando in the playoffs, follows him out there. You have no Heat defenders in the lane. Remember there is .6 seconds left, and the best chance the Celtics have to score is the lob…and there are no Heat defenders in the lane. Part of this is great playcalling (all of the player movements from the Celtics is what caused the empty lane), but the Heat should have recognized the situation and got at least one player in the paint. Brain Scalabrine is still in the same spot.

The lob pass gets made, and there is nobody there to defend it. Rondo makes the catch and finishes it, sending the game to overtime, where the Celtics win. Again, don’t let my critique of the Heat’s defense take away from the fact that this is an awesome…awesome…play.