The NBA Playoffs – The Forgotten

I just finished watching game 4 of Celtics – Raptors. We now have a three game series as Toronto just won to tie things up. Just 48 hours earlier, the Raptors were on the brink of being in the inescapable hole of being down 3-0. But as I and thousands of others have written about, OG Anunoby’s 3 pt shot at the buzzer completely changed the trajectory of this series.

Part of what made that perfect Lowry pass so special was the play that immediately preceded it:

With the game tied at 101, the Celtics had possession with less than 24 seconds left in the game. Everything was in their favor. They could essentially hold the ball for the last shot and either win the game, or force overtime. They could shoot and score at the buzzer, or leave very little time on the clock and force the Raptors to make a miracle shot <ahem>. The Raptors were potentially staring into the abyss, and the Celtics were about to push them into it, like they did the 76ers in the previous round.

Kemba Walker is dribbling and burns some clock. Marcus Smart runs up to screen, but both Fred Van Vleet and Marc Gasol stick with Kemba. Kemba has to do some fancy dribbling to escape the double team and drives into the paint, where he’s met by Kyle Lowry. As mentioned by commentator Stan Van Gundy (who’s quickly becoming one of my favorites), Pascal Siakam was supposed to ‘sink’ and drop back to defend Daniel Theis.

Unfortunately for Toronto, Siakam was anticipating that Kemba would kick the ball out to either Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown. So Siakam got caught in the void because Kemba made it look like he was going to pass out. Kemba made that ‘no look’ pass between Lowry and Siakam. He had to bounce it a bit ahead of where Theis was to get the ball past Siakam’s reach. Marc Gasol was just too far away to block that shot.

Wow.

You can see Lowry throw his hands up in frustration. He’s upset with Siakam. They just gave up an automatic dunk and now the Raptors are down 2 with 0.5 seconds left in the game. Kemba was just below the foul line with a shade over 2 seconds left when he made that beautiful bounce pass to Theis. Had Siakam properly dropped back to defend Theis, the Celtics would have had about 1 second to shoot the 3 pt shot. I’m assuming Kemba would have passed it to Jaylen Brown because 1) Jaylen was in Kemba’s line of sight. 2) the straight pass to Jaylen is easier than the pass to the left to Marcus Smart. 3) Fred Van Vleet was rotating over to Marcus Smart. So given the choices of either an automatic dunk where you’re trailing by 2 with 0.5 seconds left, versus an open 3 pt shot at the buzzer, you choose the 3 every time and live with the results.

That Kemba Walker was able to react to what he saw Siakam doing AND make that bounce pass between two defenders was INCREDIBLE! I hate the Celtics and I’m not a fan of the Raptors either. They just swept away my Brooklyn Nets in the first round. But you have to respect the amazing skill and wherewithal to make that play and put your team in position to be up 3-0.

But that didn’t happen. And now the series is tied. Boston could still very well win this series. Toronto could still very well win this series. It’s tied 2-2, so now we have a best of three series. If Toronto wins, everyone will remember that OG Anunoby shot to win game 3. Hardly anyone will remember that Kemba Walker pass to Daniel Theis. It will be forgotten, save for the occasional trivia question brought up on a random week night at your local bar.

NBA Playoffs – The defending champs are not dead yet

 

Are you kidding me???

OG AT THE BUZZER! 😱 pic.twitter.com/44YbQ6E4Lk

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 4, 2020

Look at it from another angle

This angle of OG's game-winner 🥶 pic.twitter.com/seYqvjgIr2

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 4, 2020

Holy crap!!!

The Raptors save their season with one of the most incredible plays I’ve ever seen!

Do you understand just how difficult the setup to that play is? Kyle Lowry, who is all of 6′-0”, has to make that inbound pass with 7′-5” Tacko Fall jumping and waving his arms in front of him. His wingspan is 8′-4”. Lowry has five seconds to read the defense and find an open teammate before a violation is called.

NBA court dimensions are 94 ft long by 50 ft wide. Lowry is a step or two out of bounds while OG Anunoby is a step or two in bounds. But they’re not directly across from each other. So the actual distance between the two is greater than 50 ft, perhaps 55ft. So Lowry has to make that pass over the tallest guy in the NBA, and make sure it has enough zip on it so that the ball gets to OG Anunoby to give him enough time to take the shot before the Celtics’ defense can get there.

And Lowry throws a PERFECT pass right into OG’s hands!

Wow.

Do you understand just how difficult it is to take and make that shot? OG sneaks away from the Celtics’ defense. He’s left alone due to the miscommunication between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. OG finds his spot a step in front of the baseline. Lowry launches a high arcing pass and OG waits while Jaylen Brown reacts and sprints towards him.

OG sets himself up to launch that shot immediately after receiving it. Why? Because there is 0.5 seconds left in the game. One half of one second! OG catches the ball and launches it towards the hoop, with Jaylen Brown running full speed and leaping at him to defend the shot.

My goodness.

I was playing pick up basketball on one Saturday morning more than a decade ago. I was set to inbound a pass on the baseline, and saw my friend was in the opposite corner, open for a baseline shot. I was in Lowry’s position while my friend was in OG’s position. Like Kyle Lowry, I am 6′ tall. The man defending me, however, was nowhere near Tacko Fall’s height. In fact, the guy was shorter than me. So I had perfect vision of the entire court. I threw the two handed pass over my head and hit my friend perfectly in his hands. He drilled the corner shot. I felt great. My friend pointed his finger at me after making the shot and yelled ‘Nice pass!’ I had my Kyle Lowry moment. But let’s reel it in a little.

The court we were playing on was about 60 feet in length. I never measured the width, but if we’re going by proportions, then the width was about 32 feet. So I had to make a shorter pass over the outstretched arms of a shorter defender in a casual Saturday morning pickup game, with no stakes on the line other than personal glory. I did not have to make that pass while my team was trailing in the game while down 2-0 in the NBA playoffs against one of the best teams in the league with 0.5 seconds left on the clock.

The whole NBA world was watching them. I had maybe 20 people watching me in a virtually meaningless game that maybe only I remember now. So I made that pass one time, a little over ten years ago. I don’t think I’ve ever duplicated it before or since. 20 years of basketball, and I got it right one time. For the Raptors’ to do that on the highest level of the sport with the highest stakes with virtually no time left on the clock, is just absolutely incredible. I only mention my pass because it allows me to better appreciate the execution of such a play. Being in a similar circumstance allows me to compare and definitively shows me that I could NEVER MAKE THAT PASS. But I can absolutely appreciate the skill and mental fortitude to make that pass.

I’m writing this the morning after and I’m still in awe. My goodness.

I love the NBA playoffs!

NBA Playoffs – The Ties that Bind Us

One of the few silver lines about this pandemic is the NBA playoffs. The first round just started yesterday and they’ve scheduled four games consecutively every day, starting at 130pm. My TV is just on one channel for the next ten hours. I love it!!!

One of the most highly anticipated first round matchups is between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets. In the offseason, the two teams traded their star point guards for each other. Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul changed teams as both teams changed philosophies. Houston, unable to get past the Golden State Warriors the previous two seasons with James Harden and Chris Paul at the helm, decided to go all in on small ball. By trading for Westbrook, they reunited him and Harden, who played together in OKC at the beginning of the decade. This history adds an extra layer of intrigue to the usually highly contested 4-5 matchup.

This got me to think of all the connections between the two teams and their players. Chris Paul spent the past two seasons with Houston. One of his teammates was Eric Gordon, whom were traded for each other back in 2011.

I delved further into the matter. I knew Harden and Westbrook played together in OKC. Looking further into those rosters, I realized that they also played together with current Rockets teammates Thabo Sefolosha and Jeff Green. The four of them could have been Thunder teammates with current Rockets teammate, Tyson Chandler, but that trade was nixed back in 2009.

So I dug into both rosters and found (hopefully) all the connections.

Mike Muscala and Dennis Schroder were teammates on the Atlanta Hawks for five years before being on OKC together. And for two of those seasons, Sefolosha was their teammate!

Chris Paul, Jeff Green, Luc Mbah a Moute, and Austin Rivers were all on the LA Clippers back in 2015-16!

That’s just some of the connections.

Here’s all that I could find as I was watching game 1 of the Rockets – Thunder. It took me the whole second half to create this!

 

 

 

NBA Playoffs – Putting the “Tie” in Mitchell

Last week, I discussed the ending of the Nets – Blazers bubble finale. In that game, with the Nets down by 1, Caris Levert held the ball and settled for a contested 20 foot jumper with time running out. I disagreed with that decision, saying that the Nets should have gotten into their offense much earlier since they were trailing. Apparently, Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz read my post.

At the end of regulation of game 1 of the Nuggets – Jazz 1st round matchup, the Jazz were down 2 points with less than 30 seconds to go.

Rather than take his time bringing the ball up the court, Donovan Mitchell gets a full head of steam and immediately attacks the basket. He doesn’t score, but he draws the foul and makes both free throws to tie the game. The Nuggets didn’t score again and the game went into overtime, where the Nuggets ultimately prevailed.

The Jazz and Mitchell were smart. They didn’t run the clock down to have last licks. They didn’t settle for a contested 3 point shot to win the game. No, Mitchell went right for the hoop and tied the game at the foul line. They lived to fight another day. They relied on their defense to get them to overtime.

57 points for Mitchell! The Nuggets took every punch from Mitchell and the Jazz, and delivered a few of their own.

What a fantastic start to the NBA playoffs.

It’s Your Time, Joel Embiid

Embed from Getty Images

The NBA playoffs start today, and I’m loving it!

Before the start of the season, many people picked the Philadelphia 76ers to come out of the East. Their addition of Al Horford to make their lineup even bigger, seemed to sway a lot of people’s opinions about them. They figured that the addition of Josh Richardson, along with Horford, could help to compensate for the loss of Jimmy Butler. Consecutive trips to the second round of the playoffs were meant to only whet the appetite of Sixers’ fans.

Unfortunately, Ben Simmons suffered a knee injury requiring surgery. There is no timetable for his return. He is their best defender, and the primary defensive cog to be used against the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Sixers’ first round opponent.

All the debates about whether or not Embiid and Simmons could thrive together in the playoffs, will have to be put aside for now. Embiid will be the #1 option for the Sixers. It’s his team now.

There is, however, one debate left to be resolved:

That’s two Hall of Famers, two of the greatest players of all time, calling you out for your lack of toughness and effort.

Well, Embiid has the chance to prove everyone wrong, to shut everyone up. There’s no more Ben Simmons to clog up the paint. There’s no more Ben Simmons for the defense to ignore. There’s going to be another shooter on the court to provide more spacing for Embiid in the paint. There aren’t too many defensive options for the Celtics who are truly capable of stopping a fully engaged Embiid. And that’s what the Sixers and their fans need right now, a fully engaged Embiid.

No one’s questioning his talent. No one’s questioning his abilities. But a lot of people, including Shaq and Barkley, are questioning his heart and his desire to dominate.

Joel Embiid has his chance to eliminate those questions. It’s his time.

It’s your time, Joel Embiid

 

 

Nets – Blazers: Bubble Bonanza

What a fantastic game last night. The Blazers, looking to guarantee themselves a spot in the play in games, fought like Hell. And the Nets, although they already locked in the 7th seed in the East, made the Blazers earn that victory. Interim head coach Jacque Vaughn played his starters a ton of minutes. He certainly did not roll over. The Nets’ Caris LeVert made even more splashes for himself, scoring 37 points. He made sure the Blazers and Suns focus very intently on that last shot. Had it gone in and the Nets won, the Suns would be in the play in game.

LeVert had been slicing through the Blazers’ defense the whole game with plenty of shots below the foul line. But why did he resort to a 20 foot contested jumper at the end of the game?

The Nets managed to get the ball back down 1 with about 19 seconds left. Instead of attacking the rim like he had all night, the Nets and LeVert slowly walked the ball up the court and didn’t get into their offense until about 7 seconds were left on the clock.

WHY???

You’re losing! Hero ball is not the solution. Attack the rim right away! You need to get the lead! Had the game been tied, you can hold the ball for the last shot. But you’re down 134-133! At least go into your offense a little sooner and give your team a chance to grab the offensive rebound. Instead, that turned out to be the final score.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credit for the featured image goes to:

Creator: Ashley Landis | Credit: AP
Copyright: Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Information extracted from IPTC Photo Metadata. Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)