NBA Playbook: The Final Play

Last nights Nets/Clippers game ended in dramatic fashion, with a buzzer-beating three pointer from Jordan Farmar.

While Farmar will get rightful credit for draining the wide-open three, it was Deron Williams who made the play happen. Down two with no timeouts, and no play call from Avery Johnson, the Nets were in straight wing it mode. Let’s take a look at what went down:

Jordan Farmar has the ball to inbound.  Immediately, Deron Williams frees himself from Randy Foye by running up past the half court marker, and Kris Humphries heads down to the post, taking Blake Griffin with him.  Chris Paul, with his back turned to Farmar, will join Foye in double-teaming D-Will.

Foye and Paul cover Deron, leaving Farmar unattended to get himself in position for an easy three.  It’s almost as if Paul completely forgot about Farmar, with the Clippers under the assumption that Deron would be taking the final shot.

Deron Williams sees the double-team and makes a feeble attempt to crossover Foye to put himself in position for the winning shot.  Foye stops this and Chris Paul blocks the path to his right.  At 3.9 seconds left, there simply isn’t enough time for D-Will to create a high-percentage shot for himself.  It’s also worth noting that Mo Williams, Kenyon Martin and Blake Griffin are all covering underneath the basket, making it a guaranteed contested two if D-Will managed to drive his way down there.

Instead, Deron Williams senses the double-team and the low-post defense from the other three Clippers, and passes it to wide open Jordan Farmar, who is in great position for the game winner.  Can we also just point out that Chris Paul fell to his knees in attempt to stop the perfectly thrown bounce pass from D-Will?

Check please.