The Hawks Struggling Against The Pick And Roll
When you think of the Orlando Magic, you think of 4 shooters surrounding the perimeter as Dwight Howard kicks it out to them. You don’t really think of the pick and roll too much, however in game 2, the Magic ran the pick and roll at the beginning of the 4th quarter. almost exclusively as they were able to pull away from the Hawks.
Three different times when the Magic ran their pick and roll in the 4th, the Atlanta Hawks tried three different ways to stop it. The one common link in these three plays were the Hawks going over the screen set by Dwight Howard. This is because the Magic were using Vince Carter as the ball handler in these PNRs. If the Hawks’ defenders went under these screens, it would have given Vince Carter an open jumper, and he is a very good shooter when he is shooting off the dribble going to his right side. So to prevent that, the Hawks went over the screen to chase him off the three point line.
Going Over And Switch
Each of these plays started with Vince Carter getting the ball on the wing. Dwight Howard would then come over and set a screen for Carter.
As Carter gets over the screen, Joe Johnson try to follow Carter over the screen. However he seems to get caught up in Howard’s screen, so Zaza Pachulia steps up and tries to pick up Carter.
However, Vince Carter is too quick for Pachulia and he spins off of him and draws the foul, allowing for Carter to get 2 fouls shots.
Going Over And Hedging
The next time down the court, the Magic go right back to the pick and roll.
Again the Hawks’ send Vince Carter’s defender over the screen, but this time there is no switch. The Hawks have Al Horford in help position along with Josh Smith. Josh Smith can’t commit too far because he doesn’t want to leave Rashard Lewis open (and this is what makes the Magic so dangerous).
Carter does a great job of forcing the action, and with both Josh Smith and Al Horford not really committing to help, Carter is able to split both defenders and finish with the dunk.
Going Over And Trapping
If something is working, you gotta keep going with it right? Well, that is the Magic’s philosophy here as once again they run the pick and roll for Vince Carter. This time, the Hawks try to trap Vince Carter to close out his path to the lane.
The Hawks get a pretty good trap here, but as they are trapping, Dwight Howard rolls uncontested to the rim.
This roll from Dwight puts Josh Smith in a tough spot. Smith doesn’t know if he should stay with Dwight or stay with his man Rashard Lewis.
Smith chooses to take away the easy bucket and he drops down on Dwight Howard. As Rashard Lewis makes the catch, Jamal Crawford has to leave his man and pick up Lewis.
The Magic swing the ball around to Mickael Pietrus, who Jamal Crawford had to leave to cover Rashard Lewis. Al Horford now has to run all the way across the lane to close out on Pietrus.
Pietrus makes a smart play here by pump-faking, sending Horford jumping past him, and then attacking the paint.
Pietrus is able to draw the foul on this attack.
