OK, forgive the headline. That loss was rough and I’m looking for levity.
The Nets trailed by as much as eight in the fourth quarter to the Charlotte Bobcats before roaring back, erasing a lead in the last minutes on back-to-back shots by Deron Williams. The shots couldn’t have been more different: one was a wide-open layup at the rim, the other a long-range bomb that was ruled a two-pointer and too close to overturn.
But what if I told you that those two very different shots came out of the exact same play?
SPOOKY, right?
Okay, let’s take a look.
Here’s the first play in real time. The action begins with Shaun Livingston dribbling up the left side of the floor, before shoveling the ball to Paul Pierce. Livingston then curls around Pierce and receives a hand-off from Pierce.
This handoff prompts Pierce to set a down-screen on Williams’s man, guard Kemba Walker.
Walker doesn’t appear to recognize the screen, tripping over Pierce, allowing Williams to dive towards the basket. Pierce’s defender (forward Josh McRoberts) has no interest in leaving Pierce to help on Williams, lunging without making any impact on Williams’s drive. Williams gets into the paint for an uncontested layup to tie the game at 103.
Fast-forward 30 seconds:
The action begins with Shaun Livingston dribbling up the left side of the floor, before shoveling the ball to Paul Pierce. Livingston then curls around Pierce and receives a hand-off from Pierce.
This handoff prompts Pierce to set a down-screen on Williams’s man, guard Kemba Walker.
Wait… this all looks familiar!
Yup, it’s the exact same playset, on the exact same side of the floor. Except this time, Kemba Walker tries to play it sneaky, sliding “under” Pierce’s screen in an attempt to cut off Williams’s drive.
Except Williams is smarter than that. Instead of turning into the defense, Williams flares out to the perimeter, using Pierce’s screen as a “flare” screen (designed to get open on the perimeter) instead of a “pin-down” (designed to get open in the high post).
Livingston fires the ball to Williams, he buries the shot, and the rest is history.
Or… it could have been history.
