Down by three seconds with 5.7 seconds left in their game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Orlando Magic found themselves in a situation that suited their three point shooting roster. The Magic put four shooters around Dwight Howard and were looking to set up a play using Dwight Howard as a screener. However, Howard was either confused or forgot his responsibility because he made a key mistake that prevented the Magic from running their set to the best of their ability:
With Hedo Turkoglu inbounding the basketball, the Magic line up parallel to the free throw line with Dwight Howard in front of three shooters (Jason Richardson, Ryan Anderson, and Jameer Nelson). As soon as Turkoglu gets the basketball, all three shooters curl off of him simultaneously.
Ryan Anderson heads to the opposite corner, Jameer Nelson heads to the strong side corner, and Jason Richardson flashes to the top of the key, getting a pindown screen from Dwight Howard.
Richardson gets the basketball, and the Magic are trying to get in their set. It was designed for Turkoglu to walk his man down and then come off of a pindown set by Dwight Howard. However, for some reason, Howard heads in the opposite direction.
By the time Howard realizes that he is going the wrong way, he is at the weakside elbow. Howard tries to get back in position to set a screen for Turkoglu.
However, Howard gets there a little late, meaning he can’t get a solid screen set. So as Turkoglu comes off of the pindown screen, his defender (Marvin Williams) is allowed to stay attached to his hip.
So now, instead of curling off of Howard right off of the three point line and getting an open look, Turkoglu makes the catch 40 feet away from the basket and takes a contested three that he misses. Here is the play in real time:
Now, you can’t say for sure that Turkoglu would have made the shot, or even if he would have gotten open, but with Howard getting his signals crossed, he never gives the play a chance. It is hard to say what was on Howard’s mind here. The only reason why he is on the court is to set screens so to not know who you are screening for is borderline unacceptable, especially considering the situation.
