After the Wizards hit a three pointer to send the game into overtime, I thought that the Wizards were going to be able to use that momentum to steal the game from the Bobcats. However, the exact opposite happened as the Bobcats outscored the Wizards 13-4 in the final 5 minute period.
The key seemed to be the Bobcats willingness to attack the basket. The Bobcats seemed determined to get themselves inside the paint every possession of overtime. Each time, it resulted in one of two things; a trip to the foul line or an easy basket:
Possession 1 – Gerald Wallace Gets To The Line Using A Screen
On this play, the Bobcats set up what looks to be an ISO set for Gerald Wallace. At the last moment, Tyson Chandler comes up and sets a screen for Wallace. Wallace uses the screen and gets all the way to the rim, where he is fouled.
About halfway through the fourth quarter the Blazers were trailing the by 9 points, 93 to 102. The Blazers then went off, going on a 17-3 run to close the game and come away with a 5 point win. The craziest thing is that the Blazers did this with Brandon Roy scoring 3 points in the 4th quarter (granted he did score 38 in the first 3). Let’s take a closer look at this run:
Possession 1 – Blazers Steal
After Portland made a couple free throws to cut the lead to 6 points, they dropped back into a zone defense. It isn’t a straight up zone though, as it appears to be more of a match-up zone. If you watch Blazers’ players as the Warriors make cuts, you can see the Blazers “handing off” players, making sure everyone knows where they need to be. You can tell the Warriors look a little confused, and because of that they aren’t in sync. The pass to the middle is late, allowing for the defense to get their hand on the ball and get the steal. 3-0.
After a Raymond Felton jumper, the Charlotte Bobcats took a 74-70 with about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and it looked like they were pulling away. The Dallas Mavericks responded with 13-1 run over a span of three and a half minutes, turning a 4 point deficit into an 8 point lead. I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at the key possessions of the run.
Poss. 1 – Terry Steal/Marion Dunk
After two Jason Terry free throws, the Bobcats started the ball up the court. The Bobcats get in their set, and Gerald Wallace is actually open on the wing. Jason Terry does a great job of leaving his man, jumping the pass, and getting the steal. The ball ends up in Jason Kidd’s hands who quickly tosses it back up court, starting a two on one fast break that ends with a Shawn Marion Dunk. 4-0.
At halftime of the Celtics-Magic game, it looked like Boston was pulling away turning this game into a blowout. The Celtics had just outscored the Magic by 10 points in the second quarter, and they went into halftime with an 11 point lead. The Magic came out in the third quarter, and the game did turn into a blowout, just the other way around. The Magic outscored the Celtics in the third 36 to 11. Lets look at how they did it:
