After Chris Bosh’s jumper extending the Raptors’ lead to 5 with 0:37 left, I thought that the Grizzlies were out of it.  However, they way they played the final 37 seconds was very smart, and that is what allowed them to comeback, get the game into overtime, and win the game in OT.  Let’s look at the three elements that allowed them to tie the game in the final 37 seconds.

The Quick Three

The Grizzlies come out of a timeout down by 5.  Now they have two options they can either go for the 2 or go for the 3.  The key though is that they need to get a shot at the rim quickly (we will get to that in a minute).  Mayo sets the downscreen for Zach Randolph in attempt to free him up at the top of the key.

Randolph gets a few feet of separation, and Rudy Gay quickly gets the ball into his hands.  This is important, because some plays that I have broken down on here in the past shows that inbounders can hold onto the ball for a little too long, and that can mess up the flow of the entire play.  Here though, Randolph gets him the ball in a position to operate.

Randolph makes the catch and puts the ball on the floor.  As he does this, Mayo is coming over the top for a dribble-handoff.  I love this call.  This gives Randolph options.  He can either hand it off if he feels like Mayo is going to be open or he could fake the handoff and get a lane at the basket.  Either way, this allows for something to happen quickly.

Randolph makes the hand-off and then gets a piece of Mayo’s defender, freeing him up a bit.  Bargnani is late recognizing the pick, and he doesn’t get a closeout quick enough.

This allows Mayo to set up for a wide open three.  He knocks it down.

This play ran 5 seconds off the clock.  Going quick was so key here, because now that they scored there is still 32 seconds left.  This allows them to play defense and try to get a stop without having to foul.  Going quick and setting up a 2 for 1 late is so important to me that I would almost rather see my team take a poor quick shot instead of working it around and getting a good shot with less than 24 seconds left.  That is how important it is.

The Stop

After making the basket, Toronto doesn’t call a timeout, they inbound it and Memphis decides to put some pressure on the ball.

The pressure works, and now there are seven seconds on the shot clock, and the Raptors haven’t even started their offense.  Calderon still has his back to the basket, there is no way you can get a good shot starting the offense with 7 seconds left.

Calderon dribbles off of a Bosh screen, but again being passive, he picks up the ball 5 feet behind the three point line.  He can’t do anything from there, so he swings the ball to Bargnani.

Randolph closes hard on Bargnani, who does a great job of penetrating.  The problem is that with only 3 seconds left on the shot clock, there is no way he is going to get all they way to the rim, or even have the time to penetrate and kick.

Bargnani ends up taking a rushed jumper at the elbow.  I know Wright is wide open in the corner, but you can’t make that pass.  Think about it, if he does, it will take a second for the ball to travel to the corner, and it will force him into a rushed three.  Not really a better option (actually a worse one because threes result in longer rebounds).

The Break

Coming off Bargnani’s missed jumper, Mike Conley grabs the rebound with 7.4 seconds left.  The Grizzlies don’t call a timeout, they quickly go.  Look at Rudy Gay, as soon as he Conley secure the rebound, he takes off.  This is going to be very important later.

Conley does the smart thing and keeps the ball in the middle of the court.  This allows him to have a passing lane on both sides.  This is a problem for the two defenders back for the Raptors.

Conley does another smart thing in keeping his dribble until a defender meets him.  When Calderon comes up to stop Conley’s attack, it opens up a lane for Zach Randolph.

Conley makes the pass and Randolph finishes at the rim.  This ties the game, and after the Raptors miss a buzzer beater, the Grizzlies take the momentum and end up running away with the game in overtime.