Yesterday’s Lakers-Celtics game was a very good one.  You had both teams taking a sizable lead, only to see the other claw back and make things interesting.  The result was Kobe being very Kobe-like, hitting a very tough jumper with Ray Allen draped all over him.  The Celtics were now down 1 with 7.3 seconds left.  We are going to take a look at the play that followed Kobe’s shot, and what made it so fun to watch (at least for the partial observer) was that in my opinion everyone on the court did everything right.  Let’s take a look at the play after the jump.

The play starts with Paul Pierce making the catch up top.  Rasheed Wallace sets a screen for Ray Allen.  This isn’t for a quick hitting shot though, it is just to get Kobe on Allen’s back, so he can go set an effective screen for Paul Pierce up top.

As Pierce comes off the screen, Allen is going to pop out as if he is running a pick and pop (something the Celtics are very good at).  As this is happening, Rasheed Wallace sets another screen, this time for Eddie House.  This isn’t something the Celtics are looking for, but it occupies two Lakers, because they need to respect House’s shot and Wallace’s roll on the screen.

In my opinion, option 1 of this play is Paul Pierce getting to his sweet spot and hitting a shot.  Paul Pierce is so deadly from that spot, that if he is able to get their, he is probably going to make the shot.  The Lakers, more specifically Kobe, know that, and they hedge hard on him.  Option 2 is Ray Allen.  Remember when I said, it was looking like a pick and pop?  Well, instead of a pick and pop, Allen curls all the way out to the wing, with Kevin Garnett setting a screen for him.  However, because Kobe hedged so hard, there isn’t anyone for Garnett to screen.

As Paul Pierce rises up, it looks like Ray Allen is going to be wide open.

However, Lamar Odom makes a great play here.  He recognizes what is going on, and with the ball on the way to Allen, he gets himself off of Garnett’s body, and closes out on Allen.

Odom’s length allows him to get his hand up and force Ray Allen into a contested shot.  A shot that Allen ends up missing.  Here is the play in real time.  I am still amazed that Lamar figured out what was going on, reacted, and got a great close out: