After Chris Bosh hit his jumper that gave the Heat a two point lead, the Dallas Mavericks came out of a timeout looking to get Dirk Nowitzki the basketball early in the clock, allowing him to get a shot off quickly that would maintain a two for one opportunity. The move Nowitzki made is a move that we have seen him make all postseason long, taking a dribble to the right, spinning, and then taking a hard dribble with his left before rising up for the shot. However, Nowitzki didn’t take the shot, instead he threw the basketball out of bounds:
Now, we have seen the Miami Heat double Dirk Nowitzki all series long, and just about every time, Nowitzki made the right play (whether it was to shoot or pass). However, this time, Nowitzki makes the wrong play, trying to throw a pass at the last second, but Nowitzki waits so long that Shawn Marion was already crashing the boards as the pass was made, leading to Nowitzki throwing it out of bounds.
So why did this double team work? It is all about timing. We already looked at one great play Dwyane Wade made defensively, and in my opinion, this is another one. As Nowitzki makes the catch, Shawn Marion is heading over to the strong side corner, allowing Wade to be in help position, but he doesn’t double on Nowitzki’s first hard dribble to the right, or when Nowitzki spins. Wade commits to the double team the second that Nowitzki takes his hard dribble with his left hand.
Wade’s athleticism is what allows him to cover enough ground and to rise up to actually bother Nowitzki’s shot attempt and when Nowitzki sees that Wade is going to block it, he tries to pass the basketball. Nowitzki is at his best passing out of double teams when he knows what he is doing from the start. When he knows that there is a double team coming on his spin move and he can get the pass off as he is rising up. In this case, Nowitzki is trying to pass the ball as he is landing instead of as he is rising up. In my opinion, this is proof that Nowitzki’s first decision is to shoot here and Wade’s well-timed double is what forced Nowitzki into a pass. Earlier in the game (towards the end of the first half), Nowitzki made a terrific pass out of the double team):
The difference between this situation and the turnover late in the fourth quarter? The double is coming before Nowitzki even makes the catch and because of that, Nowitzki is prepared and willing to make the pass. Nowitzki isn’t jumping to shoot, he is jumping to pass (he makes the pass on his way up). The pass was his first option. In the turnover, this wasn’t the case, as I mentioned above, the well-timed double forces Dirk into doing something he doesn’t want to do.
Wade’s play is a terrific example of what watching tape does for you. Wade knows that Nowitzki is going to spin to his left and take a hard dribble before rising up, and he used that knowledge to time his double team, forcing the turnover and allowing Miami to secure the win.
