For an X’s and O’s basketball nerd like me, I love nothing more than a good play during an NBA game.
I immediately turn into Leonardo DiCaprio from “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” pointing at the television.
Watching a play unfold on the court is exciting because it shows so much. It’s just not how well the players execute the coach’s vision, but how teams attack and deceive their opponents. It’s how they disguise their actions to get what they want. This is the chess side of the NBA.
The best moments for these plays are after timeouts (ATOs) and free throws (AFTs) and at the end of games. This is when a coach sets up his team in just the right spots to get the look they are hoping for.
I had a few jump-off-the-couch moments in the last few weeks. Let’s take a look:
MVP decoy
Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault should be mentioned with the league’s top tacticians. He does an excellent job with rotations and has top-five offensive and defensive ratings. Sure, it’s easier with a potential MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but Daigneault deserves a lot of credit.
Daigneault puts his players in the right spots, especially at the end of the game. Oklahoma City is ninth in clutch net rating, and he is not afraid to be creative at the end of games. This play against the Toronto Raptors is an example.
The Thunder trail by two points and Toronto probably thinks the ball is going to Gilgeous-Alexander or Chet Holmgren, but Daigneault had another plan. He uses Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren as decoys.
The first thing to assess is there is time for action with 5.8 seconds left. Down two, a 3-pointer is unnecessary, so the whole court is in play. The worst thing the Raptors can do is allow a 3-point attempt.
The next thing to watch for is the Thunder’s alignment. Here, Josh Giddey is inbounding the ball; he is their best passer, especially for inbound plays. Lu Dort is spaced to the other sideline and above the break, which is a key placement in this play. Holmgren is at half court, Gilgeous-Alexander is at the three-point line and Aaron Wiggins is just off the elbow ball side.
I’ll break down the play into two parts: the weak side action and the strong side, and tie it all together.
Dort’s placement is crucial because it takes away any low weak-side help from Toronto. As the action happens, Dort sets a flare screen for Holmgren, which occupies both Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl because the Raptors are guarding the 3-point line.
Wiggins sets a screen for Gilgeous-Alexander on the strong side, only for him to turn around and set a screen for Wiggins. RJ Barrett is not defending the inbounder and has his back to Giddey. This allows Giddey to see the whole floor, finding a wide-open Wiggins underneath the rim for a layup.
This play puts Raptors guard Dennis Schröder in a difficult spot. He doesn’t want to leave Gilgeous-Alexander for Wiggins.
Diagneault’s play works for several reasons:
• It plays on the Raptors’ fear of Gilgeous-Alexander getting the ball.
• It occupies the weak side with an action, removing any rim help.
• If Wiggins doesn’t get the ball, Gilgeous-Alexander could pop out off the screen and receive it.
Get it to Steph
The Golden State Warriors have played the most clutch games (36) this season. Coach Steve Kerr has the ultimate weapon in Steph Curry. In the past, Kerr has used Curry as a decoy occasionally and used Klay Thompson at the end of games.
However, Curry has been called upon more this season. In a recent win over the Phoenix Suns, Kerr diagramed a gem: a play with a lot of misdirection, which led to the Suns chasing Curry.
The Warriors are down two points with 3.3 seconds. The initial alignment has Draymond Green posting on the strong-side block. Curry is on the weak-side elbow with Andrew Wiggins and Thompson stationed above the three-point line. Brandin Podziemski is the trigger man.
It appears the Warriors are setting up one of their deadly post splits by inbounding the ball directly to Green and running Curry off Thompson and Wiggins, but that is not the case.
Once Podziemski gets the ball, Klay shoots off to the strong-side corner with Green screening for him. Then Wiggins follows Thompson and sets a screen for Green, who comes off it to set a screen for Curry.
These screens put Bradley Beal behind the action. He starts defending Green and gets off his body when Thompson comes off the first screen, which sets up Beal to get screened by Wiggins. By the time Green sets the screen for Curry, it’s too late for Beal.
But let’s give Beal some credit. He makes an incredible recovery, but Curry sees this and flares off the screen. Podziemski places a perfect pass just outside of Beal’s reach and Curry grabs it, pivots and drills a 3.
The Warriors used misdirection to create space for Curry, who got a clean look and walked away with the win.
Creating a mismatch
LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue is considered one of the top coaches in the NBA. He’s a brilliant tactician and has a large playbook.
Lue does a great job of anticipating how defenses will react to specific actions and uses that against them. The best example came against the Atlanta Hawks during a clutch situation a few weeks ago.
For starters, this play is not a straight inbounds play, and it’s something the Clippers run regularly. But this time, it is designed to attack Trae Young. Kawhi Leonard brings the ball up the court, Amir Coffey and James Harden are setting screens for Paul George’s cut. Russell Westbrook is sitting in the weak-side dunker spot.
After George’s action, Harden pops out for the ball while Coffey sets a back pick for Leonard. This is when Young gets into trouble. He does not look to switch immediately, but Jalen Johnson has jumped to take the ball. Young is now stuck guarding Leonard in the post and fronting him.
As soon as Young fronts Leonard, Onyeka Okongwu provides backside help. Then, Westbrook flashes to the high post to pull Okongwu away from the rim and drops a beautiful bounce pass to Leonard, who scores and is fouled.
This excellent-designed action forces the Hawks’ worst defender to guard the Clippers’ best player. On top of that, Westbrook makes a brilliant read to flash to the high post at the right time to finish executing the play.
Putting your players in the right spots at the right time to create good looks is an important part of a coach’s job, and that can directly impact the game with positive results.
(Photo of Steph Curry: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)