With one second left on the clock and a chance to tie or win the game, Brad Steven drew up a play that got the Celtics their chance tie… with a secondary shot to win. Despite the final result, this was another really nice out of time out play drawn up by Brad Stevens .
The set up:
Giannis Antetokounmpo is on Kelly Olynyk, Michael Carter-Williams takes Bradley, Jabari Parker is challenging the inbounds pass, Jerryd Bayless is on Isaiah Thomas, and Khris Middleton is on Crowder.
Olynyk starts in the corner.
Bradley sets a screen and the Bucks switch. This is the key to the whole thing. Olynyk recognizes it as he continues up to apparently set a screen for Isaiah Thomas. Everyone expects Thomas to get the ball, obviously, because he’s the best scorer on the team.
Instead of setting the screen, Olynyk veers left, down the lane. Carter-Williams, who had switched onto Olynyk, blows the coverage assuming the play is for Thomas. He’s way out of position… remember, they’re switching on everything… so he jumps right out to switch on Thomas too quickly. That leaves Bayless to switch onto Olynyk, but Olynyk has the position on him. At the same time, Bradley, a dangerous shooter, bolts to the top of the key. Giannis has to defend him so he starts chasing. By the time he recognizes what Olynyk is doing it’s too late. The play design has eliminated any defenders between Olynyk and the rim.
Look at where Giannis’ momentum has carried him. Olynyk has Bayless on his back and is thrown out of the way for foul and game-tying free throws. Smart threw a terrible pass, but that ultimately didn’t matter. However, if it was on target, we might have gotten a 3-point play.
Had that not worked, Thomas had Carter-Williams pinned. Bradley was running to set a pick for Crowder to come off and shoot either a 3 or a long 2 as a back up plan. The pass was thrown before the ref had counted 3, so Crowder would have also been wide open for a potential game-tying or game-winning shot.
Brad Stevens’ plays are genius in their simplicity. Recognizing that the Bucks were switching on everything, he took advantage of their youth and inexperience to get one wide open shot, and create a second one on the back-end. Great play call from coach Stevens.
