About midway through the fourth quarter, Grizzlies’ head coach Lionel Hollins was faced with a difficult decision. Hollins just saw a three point lead turn into a one point deficit after a two straight poor possessions that resulted in turnovers (these results were a direct result of Tony Allen trying to do a little too much on the offensive end):
In their series against the Dallas Mavericks, the Portland Trailblazers got absolutely destroyed by Dallas’ pick and roll. Case in point, according to Synergy Sports Technology, Dirk Nowitzki had the highest points per possession of any roll man with at least 10 possessions. Nowitzki 1.32 points per possession when he was the roll man on screens, shooting 68.8%. Now, normally Nowitzki hurt Portland when he was popping (something he did 77% this series), but in game six, he hurt Portland by rolling to the rim after his man hedged out on him:
On this play, Jason Terry gets the basketball and Dirk Nowitzki comes over and sets a ballscreen for him. Earlier in the series (and this game even), the Blazers were switching this screen and struggling to stop it. So here, the Blazers are going to try and hedge the screen. LaMarcus Aldridge takes a big step out as Nicolas Batum (the man defending Terry) works over the screen.
Lost in the Spurs’ overtime win and the defensive error from Shane Battier is the fact that the Grizzlies defense is still playing well against San Antonio’s pick and roll/kick out game. In the middle of the overtime period, we saw another great play from Memphis’ defense:
With possession of the basketball and a two point lead, the Spurs were looking to milk a little clock, allowing 10 seconds to burn off of the shot clock before they get into their offense. After flattening out, Antonio McDyess comes up and sets a screen for Tony Parker.
With 1:59 left, the Oklahoma City Thunder trailed the Denver Nuggets by three points and were in the middle of a run. Inbounding the basketball on the baseline, the Thunder were able to do a few things of note. First, they were able to get the basketball to Kevin Durant, which is no small feat late in games. Additionally, they were able to get a wide open three point shot and knock it down to tie the game:
Looking at how the Thunder had the ball set on the baseline, Oklahoma City had James Harden inbounding the basketball, the two bigs (Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka) on the strong side, Russell Westbrook on the weakside elbow, and Kevin Durant standing in the middle of it all. As soon as the ball goes to Harden, Westbrook comes off of two screens set by both Perkins and Ibaka, flashing to the basketball and getting it thrown to him.
After Durant’s big jumper, the Denver Nuggets had the ball, looking to tie the game. After a J.R. Smith attempt got blocked, the Nuggets tried to run a play for Arron Afflalo. However, with the way the play was designed, it put Afflalo in the worst position possible:
The play starts with Wilson Chandler setting a downscreen for Ty Lawson. Lawson runs to the top of the key hard, trying to bring his defender with him.
After setting the screen, Wilson Chandler flashes to the corner for the basketball. Chandler doesn’t flash to the dead corner behind the three point line, instead Chandler is a few feet behind the three point line.
After a call to reverse a backcourt violation (which was the correct decision), the Oklahoma City Thunder were up by one point on the Denver Nuggets with just 5 seconds left on the shot clock. Eventually, Kevin Durant was able to hit an open pull up jumper that put the Thunder up three points. Durant was able to get open because of a poor decision made by the Nuggets:
As the ball goes to the trigger man, you have Russell Westbrook standing in the backcourt along the sideline, with Kevin Durant standing right at midcourt. Westbrook sprints right in front of James Harden’s face, and as that happens, Durant flashes to the backcourt. Wilson Chandler, the man covering Durant, is trying to deny him the full length of the court, so he stays with him.
With Chandler denying Durant, Durant now has the freedom to cut backdoor, which is exactly what he does, leaving Chandler behind.
After all of the great plays in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, there was still basketball to be played. In overtime, the Spurs found themselves up by two points with 39.3 seconds left. Needing a stop, the Spurs were able to do something that they couldn’t do all series up until then, keep the ball out of Zach Randolph’s hands:
The play starts with Mike Conley cutting off of Zach Randolph to make himself available for the inbounds pass from Shane Battier.
We have looked at the play before it, and the play after it, and now we are going to take a look at the play that resulted in one of the craziest shots of the season. With the Spurs trailing the Grizzlies by three points with 9.4 seconds left, they had one timeout left and the basketball on the side. Deciding it was time to go for the three point shot, Gregg Popovich drew up a play to try and get a look from behind the three point line. The result was mayhem:
The inbounds pass to Ginobili gets deflected, and after a few more deflections, the basketball ends up back in his hands. Ginobili tries to get behind the three point line, but is unable to and gets off one of the longest twos you can take, knocking it down and putting his team down one point.
It was a crazy play, but I couldn’t help but wonder what the Spurs were trying to run, because it did look familiar. If you were reading this site over a year ago, you might have recognized it from a Spurs-Cavs game last March:
After extending the game as long as possible, by going for two, fouling, and taking timeouts, the Spurs had to finally make their move and go for the three point shot with 1.7 seconds left and no more timeouts. The Grizzlies knew that the Spurs had to go for a three here, and they had the upper hand. Unfortunately, a poor decision by one of the best defenders in the NBA resulted in an open three point shot that got knocked down:
The play starts with George Hill sprinting to the corner. Almost simultaneously Antonio McDyess goes from the top of the key to set a screen for Tim Duncan on the elbow.
This first screen set by San Antonio shows you Memphis’ strategy to playing screens late, and they are switching everything. Darrell Arthur picks up McDyess and Shane Battier picks up Tim Duncan.
Coming out of a timeout, the Spurs found themselves trailing the Memphis Grizzlies by three points with 13.8 seconds left in the game. With two timeouts still in his pocket (and the fact that the Grizzlies have been so good defending the three point line), Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich decided to go for the quick two, choosing to take the two points and extend the game by fouling. To get those two points, Popovich was able to use Memphis’ denial of the three point line against them:
The play starts with Matt Bonner setting a downscreen for Tim Duncanwho flashes to the top of the key to receive the basketball.
