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Coaches love to draw inning plays. So much so that I listed it as one of my favorite things:
“The team rallied around the coach to write an on-field play on a clipboard, and the bench went up at the same time the play created an easy basket. Good decision, coach! “
When I first wrote that, I had a specific in-bounds play in mind that we raced against the University of Redlands. It featured a post in the key for the other post, under the Redlands basket. We knew Redlands was changing screens. At the meeting, I told the player that I set the screen to “swipe” the screen, and that it would be open for a tray. The bank watched the play unfold as I predicted, and there was much rejoicing.
I thought of that moment in Game Two of the Western Conference Finals, when the Lakers recovered the ball from under the basket from the Nuggets with 2.1 seconds left, one point down, no timeout. I assumed the Lakers already had something in their toolbox for this situation. Maybe something with the “filter to protector” action, maybe a flash screen, maybe a rear screen in the short corner, or a hammer screen to free Danny Green in the opposite corner.
They didn’t do any of those things.
Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were on the weak side. DG made a cut towards the rim, but no screen, and only a slight step before his cut. It was definitely NOT open. KCP started in the far corner and slid slightly higher up the court. Essentially, they kept their defenders busy.
On the strong side of the court, LeBron James was on the elbow. Anthony Davis started with the opposite elbow. Surely LeBron was going to examine the AD man and then go for the hoop. Or AD would slide off LeBron’s screen, allowing LeBron to jump into the corner. Or AD would start toward the screen, turn, and catch a balloon on the hoop.
None of those things happened. Instead, LeBron, who after the game said he was the primary option, took a slow step and a half forward and stayed there. AD, without striking the first punch, simply ran toward the three-point line, not approaching LeBron. No one examined anyone. That seemed to be the whole play!
Fortunately for the Lakers, Mason Plumlee (“covering” AD) and Jerami Grant (over LeBron) totally screwed up the coverage. I guess they had been told to switch screens. Plumlee wrongly assumed that LeBron would actually, you know, set up a screen. As a result, when AD started to cross the court, Plumlee simply ran over to LeBron and pointed at AD as if to tell Grant to switch.
If Plumlee had stayed with AD, AD would not have been able to catch the ball at all or, at best, would have had to catch the ball over the defense of Plumlee and try to shoot with Plumlee and Nikola Jokic all. about him. AD likely would not have had time to pass anyone before time ran out.
Yes, AD’s shot was pure and the Lakers won. In my opinion, they were lucky to do it. True to form, none of the announcers mentioned that the Lakers didn’t really do anything that should have resulted in an open shot for just anyone. You can see the work again here:
Other thoughts
1. You didn’t play particularly well, though, DannyGreen! it was tied for best plus-minus for the Lakers. In Game One, he had the best plus-minus on both teams. Somehow, year after year, he manages to get an A plus-minus. Maybe it’s one reason why he could head to a third ring.
2. Both coaches played guys that most fans wouldn’t predict would get a significant quarter-time in this type of game. Alex Caruso for the Lakers, PJ Dozier for the Nuggets. They both played very well, although Dozier’s 4 missed free throws are sure to bother him for years.
3. Jokic scored the Nuggets last 11 points. The basket before his hook at the rim with 31 seconds to go was incredible. He guided Murray’s air-ball from the top of the key through the basket when the shot clock expired. Jokic is a basketball wizard.
4. While the AD game winner got all the attention (well deserved), he, KCP, DG and Rajon Rondo made 3s in the final seven minutes, all of which were tougher than the game winner. In the first half, DannyGreen !! racked up a three from the top of the key. And I didn’t call it “bank”. And each of those five triples counted the same number of points as the winner of the game. Come to think of it, they each counted one less than Dozier’s four missed free throws.
5. Speaking of big men who don’t shoot and hit big 3s in the playoffs, how about a little flashback to Tim Duncan’s triplet against the Suns in Game 1 of the first round of the 2008 Playoffs? Perfectly fits 9/21/20, aka Big 3 Day.
