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.
With 43 seconds left, the Philadelphia 76ers got a bucket to cut the Miami Heat’s lead down to four points. Here, the Philadelphia coaching staff had a decision to make, either foul, and send the Heat to the line or play it out and hope to get the stop. The Sixers played it out:
They were able to get the stop, but the Heat (especially Wade and James) did a great job winding the clock all of the way down, getting a mismatch by using a ballscreen, and getting the shot off at the last possible second (the ball was in the air as the shot clock buzzer went off) before attempting the shot. Basically, the Sixers went from being down 4 with 43 points to being down 4 with 17.4 seconds left. This was the Sixers’ next possession:
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.
Down by two points, the Phoenix Suns were able to get a pretty good look for Vince Carter behind the three point line. Carter missed, and Ron Artest grabbed the rebound and quickly got the basketball in the hands of Kobe Bryant. Despite the shot clock and the game clock being in sync, the Suns didn’t foul right away, opting to try and get the steal. They were unsuccessful, but before the Suns could foul Bryant he forced up a tough shot. Luckily enough for the Lakers, he knocked it down, clinching the game for the Lakers. Still, it was a strange decision, one that is worth looking at a little bit closer:
I have defended Kobe Bryant in the past when he has made some strange decisions regarding shot selection. I don’t think I can here, except for the fact that he made it. There are just so many things that can go wrong if Bryant misses this shot. Especially considering that the Suns still had timeouts left. If Bryant misses, the Suns now have a chance to tie/win the game, and they are coming off of a possession where they got a really good look (and they have been known to knock down game winning/tying three pointers from time to time). It isn’t like it was just a lay-up either (which you can understand taking), that’s a contested jumper with three defenders around him. Furthermore, with the rest of the team standing around expecting Bryant to run out the clock, there is no chance for an offensive rebound.
After a Nicolas Batum three pointer with 28.8 seconds left, the Portland Trailblazers found themselves trailing the Los Angeles Lakers by two points. The Blazers now had a decision to make, either foul and extend the game or play straight defense, hoping to force a turnover or a miss. The Blazers choose to do the latter, and Derek Fisher eventually knocks down a jumper that stretches the lead to four points with 10 seconds left, effectively ending the game. Here is the possession:
The initial strategy here is a good one. The Blazers use a double team to force the ball out of Kobe Bryant’s hands, and once he gives it up, Brandon Roy denies him, preventing Bryant from getting the basketball back. However, after Bryant gives up the basketball, Rudy Fernandez seems to be running around, unsure of what he should do. He double teams Gasol as soon as Fisher passes it to him, and then after the pass is made back to Fisher, he makes a terrible decision to gamble for the steal. Fisher easily dribbles around Fernandez, gets to the elbow, and knocks down the wide open jumper.
Against the Spurs, the Jazz found themselves down five points with 20.9 seconds left in the game. At this point in the game, and with 1 timeout left, the Jazz were faced with a tough decision. They could decide to either go for the quick two, foul, and use their timeout to extend the game, or go for three and do the same thing. Utah decided to go for three:
Now, obviously if you can get three points, you take them, but usually threes are harder to come by late, meaning more time will come off the clock instead of going for a quick two. Often times if you try to get a quick three up (which is what Williams does in the first clip), it is going to be contested, and that is exactly what happens here.
With their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder tied at 98 with 29.1 seconds left, Russell Westbrook found himself at the free throw line, shooting the second of two free throws. That is a 5.1 second differential between the shot clock and the game clock. If the Knicks would have played their cards right, they could have left very little time for Thunder’s game tying/game winning attempt. It didn’t work out that way however, and the Thunder were left with 6.5 seconds left to try and win the game (which Durant did with a cold-blooded three). Now, the question we need to ask is did Raymond Felton take his jumper too early, giving the Thunder time to win the game?
A Jameer Nelson jumper with 32.3 seconds left cut the Thunder’s lead from 4 to 2. With an eight second difference, coach Stan Van Gundy was faced with a pretty tough decision. He could either have his team foul, extend the game, and basically turn the game into a free throw shooting contest or he could have played straight defense, try to get the stop, and the tie or win the game. Van Gundy decided to play straight defense:
Unfortunately for him and the Magic, the Thunder were able to score (due to some poor defense from Hedo and a late help from Dwight Howard). Because this decision backfired, you have to ask if this was the right decision or not. In my opinion, it was the right decision, especially considering that the Thunder are the best free throw shooting team in the NBA.
After a missed jumper, the Indiana Pacers gained control of the basketball up by 4 points with 42 seconds left on the clock. There was some confusion between coach Doug Collins and PG Jrue Holiday. The result is what John Schuhmann called a candidate for the dumbest foul of the year. It’s hard to argue with him.
Let’s look at the actual foul itself first. It’s a pretty dumb decision in that if you are going to take the intentional foul, it should be as early in the clock as possible. Holiday allowed 16 seconds to burn off the clock before taking the foul. At that point, you might as well play straight defense and hope to get the basketball back off of a missed shot.
After Paul Pierce’s three pointer, the Boston Celtics found themselves down by 4 points with 27.2 seconds left. Now obviously, this is a two possession game so the Celtics had to foul to try and get the basketball back:
That’s a good quick foul from Rajon Rondo, where he goes for the steal, but then fouls quickly. The problem is that since the Celtics weren’t over the foul limit and didn’t commit a foul in the final two minutes, they had a foul to give. This means they had to foul a second time, and this is where the Celtics make a mistake in my opinion:
