In the fourth quarter of their game against the Portland Trailblazers, the Orlando Magic tried to throw a zone at their opponent.  It didn’t work too well, and part of the reason why was the fact that the Blazers did a very good job of cutting off of the basketball:

As Andre Miller gets the ball to Rudy Fernandez on the wing, Nicolas Batum flashes to the corner to overload the ballside.

As Batum gets the basketball, Rashard Lewis does a nice job of closing out and preventing any clean looks.

Lewis’ defense forces Batum to swing the ball back out to Fernandez, and Fernandez quickly swings it around to Andre Miller on the opposite wing.  The big thing to notice is how the Magic are playing their zone.  They are basically allowing the skip pass, and that strategy works because the skip pass is a long pass and it allows the defense to rotate and recover.

As the ball gets swung around, the Magic again are allowing the skip pass.  But when you allow the skip pass, you have to make sure that the man in the corner isn’t cutting backdoor on you.  Nobody really accounts for Batum, in fact you can even see Rashard Lewis looking in the opposite direction.  This gives Batum that split second where he can cut backdoor for the lob.

Rashard Lewis doesn’t get back in time and he is forced to foul him before getting the basket.  Here is the play in real time:

When you playing the zone and shifting from side to side, you have to be aware of guys trying to cut through the lane and along the baseline.  Rashard Lewis wasn’t aware, and Nicolas Batum was able to take advantage.