Last night, against the Houston Rockets, the San Antonio Spurs dropped their sixth straight game, losing in overtime. While the first five losses weren’t really anything to worry about considering the injuries and the opponents (the first four had all or some of the Spurs’ big three sitting out, the fifth loss was to the Boston Celtics), this one was a little more worrisome.
With the Lakers breathing down the Spurs’ neck for the first seed and while playing a non-playoff team, the Spurs were really going for the win, but they were unable to get it due to a number (nine to be exact) of really bad mistakes made in the final minute of the fourth quarter and throughout overtime. Mistakes that you don’t really see Gregg Popovich coached teams make:
Mistake 1: Turnover In The Backcourt
Up by three points with 1 minute left in the game, the Spurs play fantastic defense, forcing the Rockets into a tough shot that is missed. After securing the rebound, the Spurs could have realistically ran the clock all the way down to 30 seconds looking to get a basket and turn it into a two possession game. The Spurs never get that chance because of some sloppy play. Manu Ginobili throws a pass to Tony Parker without really looking. This forces Paker to tap the ball to Tim Duncan just to avoid a turnover. Duncan quickly gets the ball to George Hill who now has to rush the ball up the court to avoid an eight second violation. As soon as Hill crosses the half court line, he is trapped, the ball gets deflected, and it leads to a turnover. Once that results directly into a fast break opportunity for the Rockets. This turnover all comes down to the lazy pass thrown by Ginobili. If he hangs onto the basketball and brings it up himself, a turnover probably doesn’t take place.
Up by two points with about six minutes left, the Hawks brought up the basketball and got into a quick hitting set that started with a staggered ball screen. One of the reasons why a staggered ball screen is so tough to stop is because the defense rarely sees it coming. The Hawks’ staggered ball screen and the Celtics’ defense of it is a perfect example of that:
The play starts with Jamal Crawford bringing the basketball down along the left side of the court. As Crawford gets to the wing, the Hawks’ bigs (Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia) get in position to set their screens. When this happens, Crawford starts to take the basketball to the middle of the court, coming off of Horford’s screen. Jeff Green, unaware of the second screen coming jumps out to hedge as Delonte West goes over the screen.
In a game where a loss would just about end all playoff hopes, the Milwaukee Bucks found themselves trailing the Indiana Pacers by three points with 38.3 seconds left. After getting a basket to cut the lead down to 1 with 26.7 seconds left, the Bucks were faced with a decision, either foul and extend the game or play straight defense, hope to get a rebound, and try to win the game in regulation. The Bucks decided not to foul:
The Pacers, who called a timeout after Salmons’ basket, get the ball into Darren Collison and let him milk the clock and then run a pick and roll late. Collison gets a decent look, but missess and the Bucks’ corral the rebound with 2.7 seconds left.
The problem I have with this strategy is that with 26.7 seconds on the clock there is only a 2.7 second differential (which is how much time is left when the Bucks do get the basketball), and personally, that is not enough time. Especially when you consider that the Bucks’ offense is at its best when its scorers (Brandon Jennings/John Salmons) get the ball and can take a few dribbles.
