Outside Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, there isn’t really anyone on the Dallas Mavericks who can create their own shot, and this is what makes defending Dirk Nowitzki so important, because if you can stop him, you have a good chance of stopping the Mavericks’ offense and beating them.  Nowitzki is such an incredibly difficult cover because he is a seven footer who can shoot over you while fading away.  This means that you have to put a big man on Dirk, who can play on the outside in addition to playing on the post.

The Lakers tried to defend Nowitzki with two different players, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, and while one had some success, the other failed miserably when trying his hands at defending Dirk:

Pau Gasol – 6 possessions, 5-5 (100% FG), 13 points, 2.17 PPP

With Lamar Odom as the Lakers’ sixth man, Phil Jackson needs to find someone to defend Dirk Nowitzki until he enters the game.  In game one, Jackson went with the size of Pau Gasol to try and stop Nowitzki, however, he didn’t have much success:

Here, you see Gasol’s discomfort on the outside.  When Dirk Nowitzki makes the catch on the outside, Gasol is on him, but instead of getting a hand in Nowitzki’s face, he keeps both hands low, looking to steal any crossover dribble.  With his hands down, Nowitzki is able to rise and fire, knocking the shot down over Gasol.

On this possession, Nowitzki makes the catch out by the three point line, and Pau Gasol is forced to follow him out there.  Gasol is at a disadvantage when trying to defend Dirk on the outside and after a pump faked pass, Nowitzki drives, gets to his spot, and knocks down the jumper.

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With an 8 point lead and 1:44 left in the game, the Atlanta Hawks were looking to come out of a timeout and put the game away.  To do that, Larry Drew designed a play that got the Hawks’ players moving, taking advantage to get Al Horford wide open in the paint for the easy dunk.

The play starts with Jeff Teague getting the basketball and taking it to the top of the key.  As soon as that happens, Jamal Crawford (who inbounded the basketball) dives through the middle to the corner.  At the same time, Joe Johnson comes across two screens at the elbow to make himself available at the wing.  After setting his screen, Josh Smith flashes to the basketball.

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Scoring from the baseline off of sets is incredibly difficult in the NBA mostly due because of the lack of space along the baseline when a player catches the ball.  This is why you most often see teams enter the ball to the corner and quickly kick it to the outside versus seeing an actual set get ran along the baseline.  However, in the 2nd quarter, the Lakers were able to run a great set that took advantage of both Lakers’ bigs (Gasol and Bynum) strengths:

As soon as the trigger man (Matt Barnes) gets the basketball, Shannon Brown comes off of a double screen set by both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

After running off of Bynum’s screen, Brown heads towards the corner, drawing taking his man with him.  After setting his screen for Brown, Bynum comes over and sets another screen, this time for Pau Gasol.

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After taking the basketball the length of the court after a timeout, Kobe Bryant was fouled by Jason Kidd, taking the Mavericks foul to give in the final minutes.  The result was the Lakers taking the ball on the side, looking to get a look trailing by one point.  Without taking a timeout, Phil Jackson instructed his team to run one of their late game go-to sets when taking the ball out from the side.  However, poor execution resulted in a turnover from the Lakers, who eventually lost the game:

The play starts with Ron Artest inbounding the basketball, Pau Gasol on the elbow, and Kobe Bryant on the block.  As soon as Artest gets the ball, Gasol flashes towards Artest so he can get the basketball.

Now, as soon as Gasol gets the basketball, you are going to have two backscreens set.  Kobe Bryant is setting one screen for Ron Artest while Lamar Odom is setting a screen for Derek Fisher.

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