NBA Christmas
X's & O's & Sets from all NBA Christmas games!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed the holidays, the NBA Christmas games we fun and full of great plays. I broke down the ones that stood out to me and that were effective from the teams that played yesterday. Starting soon I will go into more deep dives on teams and since we have a good sample of games and lots of film and with the halfway mark slowly approaching, the goal is to dig deeper into their playbooks. I also have some fun plans for March Madness & the NBA playoffs that I am looking forward to sharing when the time comes.
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New York Knicks | Pitch Knicks Decoy ISO
The Knicks ran an interesting counter to one of the most common ballscreen actions with initial weave action with a pass into the ballscreen.
When teams play more aggressively in ballscreen defense, the Knicks will look to run this play but then quickly pass it across the court slot to slot to Julius Randle for him to attack his man off the catch. Since the big defending is pulled out of the paint this allows for easier drives and scores.
Jalen Brunson Short Roll
I really liked this action the Knicks ran using Brunson/Randle in the pick and roll where it was random but Brunson broke free on the short roll and hit a floater.
Up until this play Brunson had only had 3 possessions as a roll man in which he made a play on the roll - I hope the Knicks use more of this going forward.
Harden/Niang Ballscreen
The 76ers pulled away from the Knicks in the 4th, and were helped by putting Julius Randle in ballscreen defense with the Harden/Niang ballscreen combo. The first play Randle stayed at the level with 2 on the ball, Harden found Niang for a pop 3.
Next vs the same coverage, Harden hit Niang on the pop and although there was not a direct score the advantage was kept with extra pass getting back to Niang for the 3.
The Knicks then decided to switch Randle onto Harden. Watch how masterful Harden is here when he sends Melton on the baseline to go to the opposite side in the dunker’s spot.
This may seem simple, but this now puts Brunson as the low help man, and Robinson on Embiid in the strongside corner. If Robinson helps off Embiid it’s an open corner 3, and now Brunson can offer little resistance as Harden beats Randle for the layup.
A couple of possessions later Harden sets up the same situation but this time notices Grimes cheating over in the gap a little too far so he fires a quick pass to Niang for the 3 that seals the game.
Phoenix Suns | 21 Curl Back
The Suns went to a common set they run for Booker to get Shamet freed up for a 3 point shot. Starting off with normal “21” action Shamet then continues into the middle of the floor to screen and then come back off a screen from Biyombo for the 3.
Denver Nuggets | BOB Late Triple
The Nuggets were awesome in special situations against the Suns, and this baseline out-of-bounds in a “Late” situation was great. With Murray starting off int he opposite corner all 3 players set a triple screen to free him up for a corner 3.
Denver Nuggets | Pin Double Rip
The obvious thing the Nuggets are going to do is get Jokic the ball int he post, but After Time Out they used a different entry to a familiar set. Jokic screens down as the initial zipper screen and then comes off a double cross screen low for the post entry.
Normally this is run with Jokic handling and then going into a hand off and then the double cross screen, so the simple tweak of the entry helped disguise this action.
Denver Nuggets | Delay Slice
Another example of this is their Slice action where they normally have Jokic swing the ball into a hand off and then the slice screen, but to start the game they reverse it and then go into it with a weakside exchange.
Golden State Warriors | Angle Chicago Ricky
The Warriors ran a great set to free up Poole by getting into second side action here after Looney pops and goes into what appears to be “Chicago” action or a pindown into a hand off. Looney then fakes the hand off and throws it to Draymond as Poole continues his cut. Then Looney set a rescreen or throwback screen for Poole - great stuff.
Golden State Warriors | Wide Reject Spain
Spain action from the Warriors!! It might sound simple, but the Warriors haven’t run this enough under Kerr, and having the shooters they have it’s good to see this pop-up. Although they didn’t score directly off this action, good to see this set creep into the playbook.
Boston Celtics | Delay Dive Punch
The Celtics get Marcus Smart into the post out of 5-Out by having him pass to the middle and then seal on the cut. While this set is designed for a stagger action on the opposite side for Tatum, this action allows Smart to spin baseline for the layup with no help.
Boston Celtics | Ram Spain
With Rob Williams back, the Celtics Spain action really improves with the rim pressure he creates. They start off this action with a downscreen for him first and then have that player set the backscreen. Countering this the Bucks switched Lopez, but the Celtics were able to sniff this out by skipping the off ball switch for corner 3’s.
The Celtics also beat the Bucks easily with a slip to the rim when the Bucks got a little aggressive with their off ball defense.
Milwaukee Bucks | Ghost
The Bucks love to run Ghost action, but especially against a team that switches a lot like the Celtics, this action can free up easier chances to score.
Milwaukee Bucks | Chin & Counters
The Bucks ran this look for Ingles as he returns and comes back with a backscreen into a ballscreen with Giannis setting.
This setup counters where the Bucks had Giannis pop to the 3 as Lopez screened low for Jrue and then buried the switch in the lane. When Giannis drove downhill this left no resistance at the rim.
Another counter they went to is to have Giannis sit at the elbow after the backscreen for an Elbow ISO look.
Los Angeles Lakers | Horns Out Pistol
It’s no secret when any team plays the Mavericks they are going to put Luka in defensive actions. The Lakers opened up the game by having LeBron come off a screen at the elbow to catch a pass on the wing.
They then have Luka’s man (Beverly) set a ball screen for LeBron on the wing to make Luka defend it and created a weakside corner 3 out of it.
Los Angeles Lakers | Trapping Luka
From the very beginning of the game the plan for the Lakers defending Luka was obvious - trap him and allow anyone else to beat them.
This caused some problems early with poor passes and bad shooting allowing the Lakers to build the halftime lead.
It didn’t matter where Luka caught the ball, they tried to send 2 at him to get it out of his hands and the others could not make them pay enough early.
Dallas Mavericks | Delay Turn Chicago
The Mavericks had a couple of great counters to this where they ran the same “Chicago” action for Luka off a hand off but then had him drag it out laterally and then pass it forcing a LONGG closeout and recovery for the help which opened up the roller.
Dallas Mavericks | Elbow
Another easy solution to this was to get it to him at the elbow in the middle of the floor, since teams usually avoid a trap here and it ends up with Luka hitting and easy jumper over the smaller Beverly.
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When you are watching the NBA this season and anything stands out to you or you want to see included in these breakdowns let me know and I will include them! Thank you again for all of your support and for sharing my work.
Outwork Yesterday
Coach Pyper