Nice set to get a wide open look for the lead… bad communication by defense pic.twitter.com/Jtw4h0SI0o
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) December 30, 2016
Let’s relive the Celtics final (meaningful) possession when they trailed 120-118 with about 20 seconds remaining in last night’s game vs Cleveland.
After catching a pass at the top of the arc, Jae Crowder hands off to Isaiah Thomas. Both defenders (Iman Shumpert and Kevin Love) swarm Thomas at the arc. Thomas smartly swings the ball back to Crowder who has about 5-6 feet of space between him and the nearest defenders (Love and the rotating Tristan Thompson).
Crowder is open with about 12 seconds remaining on the clock. Even with Marcus Smart wide open in the corner, Crowder opted for the shot.
Here’s why I don’t have a problem with this shot: 1) Crowder is shooting a team best 41% from 3 and 2) he led the team in clutch 3-point shooting last season (43.5% during games with a 5 point differential with 5 minutes or less remaining). I routinely criticize Crowder’s 3-point shot selection but this is exactly the type of shot I/we want him taking.
One could argue there’s too much time on the clock. Why didn’t Brad Stevens instruct the Celtics to wait until there were under 10 seconds to run this set? Valid criticism. Maybe Brad was content on rolling the dice with Cleveland’s free throw shooting if the shot was missed.
I’m fairly certain Marcus Smart – a 28% 3-point shooter – would have opted for the open 3 instead of driving the ball towards LeBron James. We know he has the stones and ability to make clutch shots (see the Knicks on Christmas). But in this situation, I’ll take 40% over 28% every damn time.
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