My Favorite Sets is a weekly series looking at some of my favorite plays from the 2009-2010 and breaking them down using FastModel’s FastDraw program, and then showing you what it looks like live.

UPDATE: Corrected the Thunder set to show it correctly.

Last time, we looked at my favorite sets coming out of timeouts in dead ball situations.  These are set plays drawn up in the huddle, so it is all on the coaches.  During non-dead ball situations, it is more on the player to execute.  Because it isn’t a quick hitter, where you see one or two quick passes and a shot, players are now forced to react to the defense and go from there.

Celtics Overtime Pick And Roll

With the game tied, the Boston Celtics had the basketball and needed a basket against the New York Knicks.  The Celtics started out running their familiar ISO set for Paul Pierce, but instead ran Kevin Garnett up to set a screen for Pierce.

Box 1 -The first thing to notice is the personnel around Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.  Rasheed Wallace, Eddie House, and Ray Allen.  All shooters who force the defense to stay home and not help.  As Pierce dribbles out the ball, Garnett sets a screen for him, with his defender (David Lee) trailing the play.

Box 2 -Pierce doesn’t come off the screen as well as he could, and he leaves way too much space in between himself and Garnett.  This allows for Pierce’s defender to get over the screen and stick with Pierce.  David Lee also shows to help prevent Pierce getting to the lane.  After the screen, Garnett rolls to the top of the key.  As this takes place, Rasheed Wallace sets a screen for Eddie House, occupying the help defense.

Box 3 -  Garnett makes the catch at the top of the key, and Rasheed Wallace’s defender tries to close out but he was so occupied with with the downscreen, that he can’t get there in time.

Box 4 – As a result KG is wide open and he knocks the game winning shot down.

What impresses me about this play is that it is so simple, yet so complex.

Blazers Get A Wide Open Lay-up

After getting a basket, the Suns had to either get a stop or foul being down by four points in the closing moments of their game with the Blazers.  The Blazers understood this and used the Suns’ aggressiveness against them to get a wide open dunk opportunity.

Box 1 – As the ball goes through the net, Andre Miller hurries to retrieve it and inbounds the basketball.  Everyone seems to be covered by a defender except for Marcus Camby.  Jason Richardson is responsible for him, but instead of sticking with him, he is playing centerfield trying to get a steal.  Nicolas Batum who is at the elbow, flashes to the ball and his man follows him.  Miller fakes the pass to Batum and Richardson bites, pulling him further away from Camby.

Box 2 – LaMarcus Aldridge then flashes to the ball from the opposite high post, and this draws Aldridge’s man to the basket and away from Camby as well.  Camby is wide open sprinting towards his basket.  As the pass is made, Richardson realizes he was the one responsible for Camby and tries to get back.

Box 3 – He doesn’t get back in time, and Camby has an easy dunk…that he misses.

Sure, Camby misses the dunk, but it doesn’t take away the fact that the play worked well.  You had two cutters going to the ball drawing their man in and freeing up the home run pass.

Jason Richardson Quick Hitter

Up by six points with about six minutes left, the Suns wanted a basket to try and pull away.  They used this quick hitting play to do it.

Box 1 – As Steve Nash brings the basketball up, he quickly enters it to Amar’e Stoudemire who is at the elbow.

Box 2 – After entering the ball to the elbow, Nash goes ball side on his way to set a screen for Jason Richardson.  As this happens, Grant Hill sets a down screen for Jared Dudley away from the basketball.  Just like in the Kevin Garnett game winner, this action is to keep the defense’s attention from where the ball is really going.

Box 3 – Nash gets into position and sets the screen for Richardson.  Richardson comes off the screen, dives to the basket, makes the catch, and finishes at the rim.

What made this play work so successfully for the Suns is that they ran a play similar where Richardson took that Nash screen and cut all the way around Amar’e.  I think the Blazers were expecting that, and when Richardson dove to the basket hard, they weren’t ready for it.

Jeff Green’s Back To Back Threes

With around two minutes left, the Thunder found themselves up by one point against the Boston Celtics.  Needing a basket, the Thunder drew up a play that used Kevin Durant flashing through the lane as a decoy.

Box 1 – Westbrook brings the ball up and takes it to the coaches box along the sideline.  As he does this, Kevin Durant uses a backscreen set by Jeff Green.  Westbrook passes the ball to Nenad Krstic and cuts to the middle of the floor.

Box 2 – Nenad Krstic quickly returns the ball to Westbrook and gets himself in position to be the second screener on a double screen.  As this is happening Durant quickly changes directions and uses another Jeff Green screen, this time in the opposite direction.

Box 3 – After using Green’s screen, Durant comes off of Krstic’s screen and dives through the lane hard.  The purpose of this is to draw the defense in and keep all eyes focused on Durant.  As Durant starts to make his cut off the second screen, Westbrook passes it off to Thabo Sefolosha.  Sefolosha makes the catch and fakes a pass to Durant, sucking in the defense even more.

Box 4 – Because all eyes are on Durant, Krstic is able to sneak up on Jeff Green’s man and set a solid screen for him.  Green flashes behind the three point line, gets a nice skip pass from Sefolosha, and knocks down the open three.

What makes this play so effective is the use of Durant as a decoy.  You can’t not help but be sucked in when a player like Durant flashes to the middle.  It worked so well that the Thunder ran the play again next time down the court.  It worked.