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Grizzlies

In terms of their title-contending window, the Memphis Grizzlies are perhaps in the best position of any team in the NBA.
The fact is that Memphis forced their window open a few years earlier than anyone would have anticipated. The oldest guys on the current roster are Steven Adams and Kyle Anderson, both 28 years of age. At the start of the 2022-23 season, the top three players for the Grizzlies will be 24 years old (Desmond Bane) and 23 years old (Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.). The team with the second-best record in the league has a core that has not even scratched its prime.
Memphis is here, and with Morant likely to be locked up through 2027, this franchise will be competitive for quite a while. And moving ahead, recently named 2022 NBA Executive of the Year Zach Kleiman is now tasked with some decisions for Memphis to continue on this fast-rising arc.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s definitely a lot to be said about core continuity,&rdquo; Kleiman <a href="https://dailymemphian.com/article/28749/zach-kleiman-named-nba-executive-of-the-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently told Drew Hill of the Daily Memphian</a>. &ldquo;We are not going to have any issue paying anyone who we want to pay. There is not going to be any issue with retention here. I&rsquo;m very grateful, and we wouldn&rsquo;t be in this spot without (Grizzlies owner) Robert [Pera]&rsquo;s vision and support and commitment on that end. We are not worried about small-market notions or this or that. We are not going to have any issue whatsoever keeping together who we want as we continue to prioritize continuity.&rdquo;
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There a few names that come to play in regards to "retention." Heading into this offseason, Tyus Jones, Jarrett Culver and Anderson will all be entering unrestricted <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/nba-free-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free agency</a>. The Grizzlies were able to steal Jones and Anderson from their respective teams during their restricted-free-agency summers, but now the question is whether they will retain either of them this offseason.
There should be little to no argument that Jones is the best backup point guard in the NBA. His steady play and care of the ball played a major role in the Grizzlies winning the way they did this season, even when Morant went down with injury. In his exit interview, Jones told reporters that, while he does desire to be a starting point guard, he "loves the organization and playing with this team."
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Paying Tyus starter money to back up Morant is like paying for an expensive insurance policy. You may never get your money's worth, but when you need it in an emergency situation, you are sure glad you have it. With Ja's style of play, having Jones on the roster seems like the most valuable potential signing Memphis could have this summer. They could front load the contract to make the money work long-term, and then draft another point guard to be ready by the end of Jones' next deal.&nbsp;
Anderson, while more likely to return than Culver, has probably played his last game in a Memphis uniform. His veteran presence was important in the playoffs this season, but his inability to shoot leaves Memphis looking for an upgrade. Anderson is a holdover from the Chris Wallace regime, and though he has been a cultural fit in the locker room, it may be time to move on.
Adams, Dillon Brooks and Killian Tillie will all be on expiring deals worth over $30 million combined going into next season, and both Morant and Brandon Clarke are eligibile for their rookie-scale extensions. While Morant will get a max offer the second he is eligible, the decision on Clarke will loom large this summer. Memphis would do well to avoid restricted free agency in 2023 with the springy forward, and should look at a four-year, $50 million dollar extension as the ceiling for him.&nbsp;
With a pair of first-round picks and enough expiring money and cap space heading into the 2022 NBA Draft, will Memphis make a splash? The free-agent market is not enticing enough for them to sign anyone &mdash; especially considering they are going to have to pay Bane soon as well. A reunion with Delon Wright seems to be the best option if Memphis were to lose the Jones sweepstakes. Don't expect the Grizz to put their name in the hat for Zach Lavine this summer either.&nbsp;
Could Memphis pry Pascal Siakam away from Toronto for a package of Adams, Brooks and three first-round draft picks? Or perhaps Utah is open for business and there is a similar package, plus De'Anthony Melton, for Donovan Mitchell. A simpler upgrade for the Grizz could be Brooks and a pick for Bojan Bogdanovic, a veteran shooting presence Memphis needs.&nbsp;
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The Grizzlies' summer will be unpredictable. On one hand, they could be completely silent, doing nothing crazy and opt to run it back. On the other, they could swing for it, seeing their window open before Morant hits his first max contract.
Another big storyline for them will be the development of Ziaire Williams at NBA Summer League. The previous season, Bane went from a low-usage rookie to a summer-league standout to receiving a Third Team All-NBA vote. Williams is on the Bane plan, and if he were to breakout in a similar way, that is a massive development for the Grizzlies' title aspirations.
No matter what Memphis does this summer, the organization is ahead of schedule. Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane make up one of the most lethal trios in the league, and they are just getting started.
The Grizzlies do not care if you believe in them. They believe in themselves, and are going to be in the thick of it for years to come.&nbsp;
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Justin Lewis takes a look at the upcoming decisions the Grizzlies have to make in free agency and with their own roster this summer.

2022 NBA offseason preview: What's next for the Memphis Grizzlies?

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jimmy Butler had 47 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and the Miami Heat forced the Eastern Conference finals to a decisive seventh game by beating the Boston Celtics 111-103 on Friday night.
Ten years after LeBron James scored 45 points in Boston to help the Heat avoid elimination in Game 6 of the conference finals en route to the first of their back-to-back NBA titles, Butler had 17 points in the fourth quarter to top him and send the series back to Miami.
With a victory at home Sunday, the Heat would advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.
In the most back-and-forth game of the series, Boston took a 97-94 lead on Derrick White&rsquo;s 3-pointer with under five minutes to play &mdash; the first time all series the lead has changed hands in the fourth quarter. Kyle Lowry answered with a 3 and then added two free throws as Miami scored 11 of the next 13 points.
Lowry finished with 18 points and 10 assists before fouling out with 2:18 left. Butler made 16 of 29 shots, hitting 4 of 8 from 3-point range and all 11 free throws.
Jayson Tatum had 30 points and nine rebounds and Derrick White came off the bench to score 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for Boston. The Celtics are trying to reach the finals for the first time since 2010.
Boston's Jaylen Brown scored 20 points, missing a pair of free throws with the game tied at 99 after Lowry fouled out. Brown fouled out himself on a charge offensive that was assessed after a challenge on a missed dunk with 13 seconds left and the Celtics down by four.
IN AND OUT
Miami guard Tyler Herro missed his third straight game with a strained groin, costing the team its No. 2 score. Kyle Lowry (hamstring), Max Strus (hamstring) and P.J. Tucker (knee) had been listed as questionable but were in the starting lineup.
Boston&rsquo;s Marcus Smart (sprained right ankle) and Robert Williams III (sore knee) tested their injuries pregame and were also in the lineup.
TIP-INS
Heat: Butler&rsquo;s 47 points is the third-most to stave off elimination against the Celtics. Elgin Baylor scored 61 in Game 5 of 1962, and Wilt Chamberlain had 50 in Game 5 in 1960. ... Butler had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in the first. He scored or assisted on 24 of Miami&rsquo;s 29 points in the quarter.
Celtics: Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who was inducted into the ballclub&rsquo;s Hall of Fame on Thursday night, was courtside. Ortiz threw out a ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park earlier in the evening. Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez was also at the game, wearing his World Series ring.

Behind Jimmy Butler's 47 points, the Miami Heat forced a Game 7 against the Boston Celtics.

Butler scores 47 points, Heat beat Celtics to force Game 7

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and the Boston Celtics took their turn pounding the Miami Heat early, jumping out to a 26-4 lead and cruising to a 102-82 victory that evened the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece.
Miami missed 15 of its first 16 shots in the second straight game that was all but over after 12 minutes. The Heat led 39-18 after the first quarter of Game 3 of this bizarre series in which no game has been close down the stretch.
Game 5 is Wednesday in Miami.
Payton Pritchard had 14 points for the Celtics. Derrick White added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Robert Williams finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Celtics led by 27 points in the second quarter and stretched their advantage to 32 in the third. Each game in this series has featured a lead of at least 20 points.
Victor Oladipo led the Heat with 23 points. Miami&rsquo;s starting five of All-Star Jimmy Butler (six points), Kyle Lowry (three points), P.J. Tucker (no points), Max Strus (no points) and Bam Adebayo (nine points) were a combined 7 of 36 shooting. They all sat out the fourth quarter.
And the Celtics stymied the Heat without Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, who sat with a sprained right ankle he suffered in the second half of Game 3.
The Heat were without Tyler Herro, who suffered a groin injury late in Game 3.
Butler was in the starting lineup after missing the second half of Game 3 with swelling in his right knee. Lowry (strained left hamstring), Strus (strained hamstring) and Tucker (left knee irritation) all tested their injuries pregame before being cleared to go.
Boston&rsquo;s Williams returned after missing a game with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.
Even with their banged-up roster, the Celtics enjoyed their fastest start of the series. Starting in place of Smart, White scored the game&rsquo;s first seven points as Boston took an 8-0 lead.
It quickly grew to 18-1, with Miami misfiring on its first 14 shots. The Heat didn&rsquo;t get their first points until Adebayo&rsquo;s free throw at the 7:56 mark. Miami made its first field goal at 3:22, a 3-pointer by Oladipo, and finished the quarter 3 for 20.
The Celtics took a 29-11 lead into the second quarter and led 57-33 at the half.
TIP-INS
Heat: Shot 33% (30 of 90). ... Finished with 64 bench points. ... Miami had one point in the first eight minutes, the lowest total by any team in a playoff game in the last quarter-century, according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info.
Celtics: Outrebounded Miami 20-8 in the first quarter. ... Several current and former New England Patriots were in the crowd, including Devin and Jason McCourty, Malcolm Butler and Damien Harris.

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and the Celtics took their turn pounding the Heat early, jumping out to a 26-4 lead and cruised.

Celtics torch Heat early, even series with 102-82 blowout

Luka Doncic didn&rsquo;t have another &ldquo;believe&rdquo; in him with the Mavericks facing a 2-0 deficit for a second consecutive series.
Not that the Dallas superstar doesn&rsquo;t believe. There&rsquo;s just a difference after&nbsp;losing a 19-point lead against title-tested Stephen Curry&nbsp;and the Golden State Warriors.
The Mavericks are headed home to try to stay in the Western Conference finals after they beat championship-less Chris Paul and Phoenix four times in five games, starting in Dallas, to get there. Game 3 against Golden State is Sunday night.
If Dallas is going to repeat what Doncic said he believed his team could pull off against the top-seeded Suns, it&rsquo;ll start with defense. The Mavericks got 42 points from their All-Star guard, but they quit defending the Warriors when the shots stopped falling.
Golden State shot 61% in the second half of a 126-117 victory &mdash; 79% in the fourth quarter, almost matching Phoenix from Game 2 in the West semifinals &mdash; as Dallas fell to 2-5 in Doncic&rsquo;s three playoff seasons when he scores at least 40.
&ldquo;We play defense when we play offense, and we play no defense when we can&rsquo;t score,&rdquo; Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that we have to get better at this time of the year. You can get away with it in the regular season.&rdquo;
There&rsquo;s a little something about offense Kidd wants the Mavericks to understand too. Always reliant on 3-point shooting, Dallas took its big lead because those shots were going in.
When the 3s stopped falling in the third quarter, Doncic and company kept shooting them. He missed a pair and Reggie Bullock was off on all three of his as Dallas ended up 2 of 13 from deep while a 14-point halftime lead was cut to two.
&ldquo;We got to attack the paint more, like they did,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;They attacked the paint a lot. They have two of the best shooters in the world, and they still attack the paint.&rdquo;
Curry did his thing with 32 points while fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson had another relatively quiet night with 15 points &mdash; except for two driving dunks after halftime.
When the Warriors didn&rsquo;t have free runs to the basket, center Kevon Looney was often waiting underneath. His career-high 21 points, regular season or playoffs, helped the Warriors to a 62-30 advantage in the paint, the most points the Mavericks have allowed inside in the postseason.
With 12 rebounds, Looney became the first Golden State center since Robert Parish in 1977 to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in a playoff game, according to StatMuse.
&ldquo;Playing center for the Warriors, it&rsquo;s a different type of job from other teams,&rdquo; Looney said. &ldquo;A lot of the scoring and stuff, we don&rsquo;t really need us to do. I&rsquo;m going to remember that stat, so I can tell somebody else about it.&rdquo;
The Mavericks found a way to limit the efficiency of Deandre Ayton after a big game from the Suns center in the opener of that series.
The growing ineffectiveness of Dwight Powell (zero points, two rebounds in eight minutes in Game 2) has forced Dallas to go small. The Mavericks can&rsquo;t keep doing it if they can&rsquo;t limit Looney, who had five offensive rebounds and helped offset a dud from Draymond Green (minus-19 before fouling out with six points).
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the guys that no one writes about or talks about,&rdquo; Kidd said. &ldquo;But we understand the impact he has on the game of giving those guys second or third opportunities.&rdquo;
Golden State is 14-1 when leading a series 2-0 since Kerr took over in 2014-15. It is two wins from a return to the NBA Finals after the last of five consecutive appearances in 2019. The Warriors are in control because they won when trailing by as many as 19 for the first time in these playoffs.
&ldquo;Hopefully this is a game that we can kind of put in our back pocket and remember because there&rsquo;s a good chance we&rsquo;ll be in this situation again,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;This is a team that is explosive and you&rsquo;re dealing with one of the great players in the game who can create for himself and others, and it will be a hard series.&rdquo;

The Mavericks overcame an 0-2 deficit to beat the Suns in the last round. Can they do the same against the experienced Warriors?

Can the Mavericks climb out of an 0-2 hole once again?

There are many avenues to crafting a successful defensive scheme, Personnel is the main decider, of course. For example, you're not running a switching scheme with bigs that can't slide their feet or with guards who have weak centers of gravity. But depending on who you have, you can do pretty much anything if you nail the details.
For years, I've loved watching the Storm defend. Their style borders on frenetic: constant ball pressure, aggressive help and plenty of strain placed on their bigs when asked to scoot above screens. When they're locked in, it feels like there's nowhere to go with the ball. Basic pick-and-roll reads aren't there, and even if you get off the ball early against their pressure, the backline is rotating on time and on target.
It should come as no surprise that the Storm have ranked 3rd, 4th, 1st and 5th (but less than a point per possession shy of 3rd) in defensive rating over the past four seasons. In that same span, they've also been near the top of the leaderboard in opponent turnover rate, the percentage of possessions on which their opponents commit a turnover.
Range is the name of the game for the Storm. In the early portion of this season, no player embodies that quite like third-year big and first-year starter Ezi Magbegor.
Magbegor is a bit slight for the center position, as she is <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/players/m/magbeez01w.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed at 6-foot-4 and 176 pounds</a>, nearly identical to Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker. But she's able to counter that with her length (6-foot-7 wingspan) and her impressive mobility. That combination of traits allows her to toggle between schemes.
When directly involved in action, guards see their windows close in a flash. It's especially true when Magbegor is tasked with playing to the level of the screen or higher. She's too long to comfortably flip passes over her, and she moves well enough to cut off driving angles. Pocket passes are your best live-dribble option, but even then you're asking a lot of your guards.
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It's worth noting that Magbegor is still trying to learn the nuances of drop coverage. There are possessions where she commits to a guard too early or sinks too far back to cut off a rolling big. But because of her length, she's able to chew up space when she's wrong. There aren't many bigs in the W with a larger margin for error than her.
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Trying to attack Magbegor one-on-one is a challenge. Bigger centers are able to establish position against her in the post, but she counters that by making entry passes a pain in the butt. And if you're trying to trying to run your offense higher up, be careful.
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Even if teams make an entry pass, trying to shoot over the top isn't easy. Magbegor is long, active and a quick leaper. She blocked post behemoth Liz Cambage three times&nbsp;on Friday night. Honestly, the back-and-forth between them was a fun watch.
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We've also gotten fun flashes from her defending in space by her lonesome. She's able to toggle between both frontcourt slots, and she hasn't looked out of place when matched up with guards. Ask Courtney Vandersloot and Skylar Diggins-Smith.&nbsp;
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The scary part is Magbegor is also a menace when operating off the ball. Trying to run 1-4 pick-and-rolls against the Storm is another issue altogether,particularly when Breanna Stewart is the 4 being "attacked." The double whammy, however, is activating Magbegor as a helper. She can fly around, man.
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That's Jantel Lavendar involved instead of Stewart, but you see the intrigue. Diana Taurasi drawing two to the ball should create an advantage situation, yet Magbegor is able to play between two, taking away the roll from Tina Charles before sliding up to swat Bri Turner at the rim.
Trying to make passes in her area is also a futile endeavor. Lazy passes&nbsp;will&nbsp;be plucked from the air. Desperation feeds are as good as hers.&nbsp;
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Now for the numbers: Magbegor ranks second in the W in blocks (2.8) and is 14th in steals (1.5). Her 4.3 stocks (steals plus blocks) lead the W, with Sparks guard Brittney Sykes (3.0 steals, 1.0 blocks) being the only other player averaging at least four.
The Storm allow 94.4 points per 100 possessions with <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/wnba?TeamId=1611661328&amp;Season=2022&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1629496" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Magbegor on the floor</a>--a mark, when extrapolated, that would rank third in the league. Oh, and the defense is nearly 16 points per 100 possessions worse when she's on the bench. Opponents see their two-point percentage drop by nearly eight points when Magbegor is on the floor.
I think you get my point.
Magbegor moves like a 3, has the size of a 4 and is able to cause havoc in the paint at the 5. Her size and mobility unlocks a ton of scheme versatility for the Storm, which in turn makes them an elite unit when she's on the floor.
She's racking up ridiculous counting stats without fouling. Tallying 26 stocks to 14 fouls is wild considering what she's asked to do and who she's been asked to do it against. She's seen Cambage, A'ja Wilson, Charles, and Sylvia Fowles in a two-week stretch.
She still needs some refinement, but we're in the midst of something special with Magbegor.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the early defensive excellence of Seattle Storm center Ezi Magbegor.

Seattle Storm's Ezi Magbegor cares not for your space

The energy in The Bay was palpable, a crowd starved for its team's first Western Conference Finals berth since 2019. The dominant rule of this Golden State dynasty had been rudely interrupted by a once-in-a-generation global pandemic, a slew of untimely injuries and a superstar migrating across the country to skyscraping lands. Even the Chase Center flooring glimmered in anticipation.
The only thing that gleamed more was the twinkle in the eye of the Warriors' team defense.
The Warriors faced a new challenge in the West Finals, going from containing the quick-twitch athleticism strewn across the Memphis Grizzlies' roster to now containing the pick-and-roll craftsmanship of Luka Doncic, arguably the best player of the 2022 postseason. Luka's a nightmare to deal with, to say the least. He can attack your bigs or smalls on switches in isolation. He makes passes that only a select few across the globe can make should he even gain the slightest bit of an advantage. Most of all, he's a true-blue three-level scorer, geared up with step-back threes, post-ups with Dirk Nowitzki-legged fadeaways, sikly floaters and elongated layups at his disposal.&nbsp;
Containing a player of that ilk is not as simple as just throwing one perimeter player his way and hoping for the best. And while Luka's primary defender, Andrew Wiggins, did an admirable job on Wednesday of holding Doncic to 4-of-10 shooting, it was Golden State's medley of defensive coverages that kept Dallas at bay during the 25-point evisceration.&nbsp;
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Steve Kerr's crew threw out six different coverages in the first half &mdash; blitzes, hedge-and-recovers, a shallow drop coverage, pick-and-roll switches, a 3-2 zone and even a Box-and-1 &mdash; to stifle Dallas' second-ranked playoff half-court offense to a crawl. Golden State's coordinated chaos worked effectively, as Dallas put up just 78.8 points per 100 possessions in the half-court during Game 1 (10th percentile, yikes!), well below the 101.3 Offensive Rating that Dallas normally averages in this setting.&nbsp;
We'll touch on a few of those coverages momentarily, but it was Golden State's zone looks that were particularly interesting. The Mavericks haven't seen a ton of zones this postseason, especially coming off a series against the Phoenix Suns that featured mostly drop coverage or the occasional switch with Deandre Ayton manning the middle.
Interestingly, Golden State aligned its 3-2 zone so that Stephen Curry was atop the formation, meaning that he was typically Luka Doncic's primary defender. This goes against conventional thinking; normally, you'd expect the Warriors to hide Curry in the corners on one of Dallas' non-threatening options (think: how Miami deployed Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro in the 2020 postseason) instead of guarding the best mismatch-hunter on the floor. The Warriors, however, felt confident about shuttling defensive possessions to Curry at the point-of-attack, trusting their superstar to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/stephen-currys-defense-continues-to-shine-for-the-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">utilize his best defensive attribute</a> &mdash; his quick hands&mdash; to frustrate Maverick ball-handlers.
Of course, it helps with Wiggins and Draymond Green situated at the nearby wings, able to sink down and contain should Doncic bullrush his way past the slighter Curry. That's exactly what happened during this first-quarter possession below; Curry bothered Doncic's dribble by sticking in an arm, and when Doncic gathered himself and prepared his attack, Wiggins provided assistance at the nail to erase the driving lane and coerce the kick out. Jalen Brunson, of course, misses the spot-up three (a trend on Wednesday night), and Golden State gets its desired result from the 3-2 zone.
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There's some irony in the Warriors &mdash; the same team that once complained about Toronto's "junk defenses" in the 2019 NBA Finals &mdash; throwing out Box-and-1s to fluster Dallas' heliocentric offense. And yet, a minute later, Golden State busted out that janky look, with Curry, Jordan Poole, Green, and Otto Porter Jr. spread across the lane lines to form the "box," and Wiggins smothering Luka from basically the mid-court line.
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When Maxi Kleber comes to set a screen for Doncic, Poole and Wiggins trap Luka and use the sideline as a third defender to force the pass. Dallas hot-potatoes the ball across the perimeter, frantically searching for a vialble option, and eventually the Mavs are left with a 27-foot three from Kleber. A result the Warriors will live with.
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The Mavericks mustered up just 18 total points in the first quarter, which effectively set the tone for the rest of Game 1. Looking ahead after the brutal loss, it begs the question: Where can the Mavericks go next?
Well, there's the obvious answer, for one: Make more friggin' threes. Duh. The Mavericks whiffed on 37 of their 48 total outside looks, with some of those misses being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT-vnjKYwf0&amp;ab_channel=MattBrooksNBA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pretty dang brutal</a>. But there's more to the game than just blindly hoping for better results.
Thinning Out the Hedges
As mentioned, one of the coverages that Golden State threw at Luka was hedging and recovering on pick-and-rolls. Typically, this was done when Doncic and the Mavericks looked to target Curry in screening actions. Dallas would have Curry's defender &mdash; Reggie Bullock in the first clip; Spencer Dinwiddie in the second&mdash;set a screen on Luka's defender, Wiggins.
Rather than having Curry switch outright onto Doncic, Steph would instead jump out toward the 6-foot-8 ball-handler to buy Wiggins time as he recovered back to his assignment. Though it goes in, a tightly contested step-back three &mdash; which Luka is shooting just 32.1% on in the postseason &mdash; is a result the Warriors can stomach, especially with one of its smallest defenders (Curry) involved in the play.
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Thus, going at Curry with a slew of straight pick-and-rolls wasn't particularly profitable in Game 1. Golden State is too experienced, too disciplined and too even-tempered to be caught off-guard by opponents repeatedly targetting its superstar. After all, that's been the game plan since, what, 2015? Steph is well-versed in evading such narrow offensive game planning.
But Dallas has some unexplored avenues.
One such way could be to mix in more slips to the rim. Below, after Golden State pre-switches to initially neutralize the Doncic-Bullock pick-and-roll, Luka calls for a second screen from Brunson to bring Curry into the fold. When Steph hedges, Brunson then cuts to the rim instead of flaring out to the perimeter. And although the possession is smothered by Draymond Green audibling a switch with Curry and playing some free safety (goodness was he ever incredible in Game 1!), Dallas was able to get two feet into the middle of the paint to make decisions.&nbsp;
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Flipping the angle of the screen at the very last second, which is something the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/grizzlies-flattening-out-the-warriors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grizzlies did against the Warriors</a> in the second round, is a counter yet to be tested by the Mavericks' offense. When Dallas did elect to re-screen in Game 1, it was only because the initial screen failed to connect.&nbsp;
Dallas could also add some intricacy to its pick-and-rolls by forcing Golden State to navigate secondary screens. Screen-the-screener (STS) plays were, once again, something the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/memphisminnesota-game-5-was-a-masterclass-in-playcalling-wizardry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grizzlies tinkered with</a> in the earlier rounds of the postseason, and forcing Curry to navigate an off-ball screen before being dragged into a ball-screen for Luka could put him behind the play, thus throwing off the timing of his hedge.
All Doncic needs is a moment of hesitation to create for himself or others, so mixing in each of the following&mdash; re-screens, slips to the rim, ram screens and/or STS plays and straight pick-and-roll&mdash;to keep the Warriors on pins and needles could prove to make the difference going forward.
Sniffing Out the Proper Switches
So yes, scoping out Curry on pick-and-roll-induced switches didn't go as planned for Dallas in Game 1 given his comfort level with hedging those plays into oblivion; but that's not to say that Dallas failed to get any sort of traction when Golden State swapped assignments after ball screens.
Here's something that should keep Mavericks fans up at night: Dallas was hunting the wrong Warrior guard. Poole was tested by both of Dallas' secondary and tertiary options (Brunson and Dinwiddie), and he looked like a fish out of water on switches. Collectively, Dinwiddie and Brunson went 2-for-3 from the field when defended by Poole in Game 1.
Dinwiddie is both too tall and too quick to be even slightly bothered by Golden State's prolific 22-year-old, and Brunson's veteran craft left Poole stumbling. Jalen's portfolio of pump-fakes, B-Boy dancer pivots and up-and-unders was one hell of a handful for the third-year player.
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Even when Golden State attempted to hide Poole with hedges, he just wasn't disciplined enough to masterfully pull off this coverage with regularity. Here, he "shows" (or hedges) way, way too high up the floor against Brunson, who has yet to burn Golden State with pull-up threes, and Poole ends up getting flamb&eacute;d in isolation.
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Dallas' one-two punch of Doncic and Brunson also got off some pretty clean looks when served up Kevon Looney on a platter. Look, Looney had himself one hell of a Wednesday evening and was maybe the Game 1 MVP, but his lateral mobility was tested by Dallas' lead options. Take a look for yourself:
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Dallas should continue to hammer this home in the series. Though it's admirable that Looney feels empowered to pick up individual creators of Doncic and Brunson's ilk so high up the floor, his hip flexibility doesn't afford him the requisite oomph when changing directions on either player's array of dribbling moves. Doncic found relative consistency in forcing Golden State rotations and passing to open shooters after beating Looney off the dribble; Brunson, meanwhile, danced and jitterbugged his way to his spots to go 3-of-4 when defended by the Warriors' starting center.
It's integral that Dallas continues to exhaust Curry by involving him in a never-ending loop of pick-and-rolls. The more mileage put on his body defensively, the better. But there's also some value in getting some easy ones against guys like Looney and Poole.
Other notes:
<ul>
<li>Testing Klay Thompson, still fresh off two major injuries, is inherently not a terrible idea. Doing so by posting him up and allowing him to use his strong base and 6-6 frame, however, is not so brilliant. Doncic wasn't able to gain any ground against Golden State's sturdy wing, and the Mavericks would be better suited having the bursty Dinwiddie or even the guileful Brunson go at Thompson in space.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>Speaking of Brunson, how often he can make Golden State pay via pull-up threes should be a major theme in the West Finals. Golden State regularly went under ball-screens against Brunson, daring him to shoot, and he responded with a whole bundle of record-scratch moments. Brunson has shot a combined 30.4% on pull-up three-pointers in the regular season and the postseason on just 105 total attempts, and if he continues to feign at chucking them up when the defense drifts underneath screens, Dallas' offense will sludge itself to death.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>The Mavericks are one of those teams where you just wish they'd incorporate a little more movement into their offense. Dallas leaves food on the table with screening actions on the weak side of the floor, and it allows the low man to stay engaged when helping over should Doncic (or Brunson or Dinwiddie) discover a crack in the defense. That's particularly problematic against a team like the Warriors and Green, a hellish secondary defender to tangle with. Notice how Golden State preoccupies Luka, the low man in the clip below, with screening action between Wiggins and Thompson. When Looney slips to the rim, Doncic is late on his rotation because of the ensuing traffic on the weak side.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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It'd be great if Dallas could incorporate some of&nbsp;that&nbsp;stuff into their pick-and-roll heavy offense.
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Matt Brooks goes in-depth to break down what the Mavericks can improve on offensively against a stout Warriors defense.

How the Warriors' defense flummoxed Dallas, and where the Mavs go next

Over the past few seasons, perhaps the Phoenix Suns&rsquo; favorite way to catalyze rhythm for star guard Devin Booker has been a Chicago action.
In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBv686s3kCc&amp;t=24s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago action</a>, a player flows off a pindown screen into a dribble handoff and assesses the options from there.
With Booker flanked by viable spot-up shooters like Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges, a lob threat in Deandre Ayton and a creation release valve in Chris Paul, most opponents struggle mightily to contain the Suns&rsquo; offense out of this play.&nbsp;
The &ldquo;pick your poison&rdquo; adage comes into focus. Sell out to slow Booker on the catch, and he&rsquo;ll deliver a feed to one of the surrounding marksmen. Load up against Ayton&rsquo;s dive and Booker can burrow his way toward a mid-range pull-up. Stay home against shooters, and Booker will loft a pass to Ayton at the rim.&nbsp;
In Game 1 of the second round, the Dallas Mavericks experienced this confounding spectrum. Booker only scored 23 points on 7 of 20 shooting, but he dished 8 dimes to a single giveaway for a 121-114 victory. As Booker conducted possessions out of Chicago action, the Suns routinely carved up Dallas.
In Game 5, when Booker scored 28 points on 11 of 20 shooting in a 110-80 rout, the Mavericks endured similar troubles. Much of the series, whenever he faced single coverage or Dallas failed to neutralize Ayton on the roll, the Suns&rsquo; attack flourished. Letting Booker maneuver into space on those plays, particularly going to his right, is often a death knell for defenses.
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Although Booker&rsquo;s 30-point Game 2 arose more so out of pick-and-rolls, isolations and transition opportunities, Dallas&rsquo; ability (or lack thereof) to slow him in Chicago action proved to be somewhat of a bellwether for its collective success.
Sending a crowd in Booker&rsquo;s direction and mucking up his passing windows can consistently throw him for a loop. The Mavericks tout considerable size, length and mobility on the perimeter, which they applied to flummox the three-time All-Star (and his teammates). His worst outings of the series all stemmed from Dallas barricading the paint, bringing multiple bodies his way and coaxing improvisation out of him.
Utilizing his 6-foot-5 frame, snappy elevation for jumpers and feathery mid-range touch, Booker thrives against single coverage. He&rsquo;s also prone to predetermined reads as a facilitator. By limiting both of those scenarios, Dallas bottled him up. He&rsquo;s developed into a good passer, but a buffer period exists when the opening he seeks out is not there. The Mavericks reliably took away his anticipated choice, and cornered him and the Suns into resetting the offense.
If the lob to Ayton is readily available, he makes it look second-nature; when the lob isn&rsquo;t, possessions begin sticking. In Game 3, Booker took just 13 shots (18 points) throughout his 40 minutes and compiled 6 assists to 5 turnovers. Across Games 6 and 7, he scored 30 points on 40.9% True Shooting and had 5 assists to 12 turnovers.&nbsp;
Dallas extended his initial touch further from the paint, sagged off the shooter to his left and made him reverse course. Rarely did he locate the open teammate on the wing. The Mavericks know that read is a gap in his passing vision and exploited it. Paul&rsquo;s aversion to spot-up triples aided, and likely factored into, their game plan&nbsp; too.&nbsp;
The scouting department and coaching staff deserve massive praise for those tweaks, as do Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber, Reggie Bullock and Dorian Finney-Smith. The former two&rsquo;s mobility and dexterity agitated Booker on the catch and pushed him away from the hoop; the latter two constantly stayed connected amid his off-ball motion and shrunk open space.&nbsp;
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All this defensive precision is a subplot of fashioning an offense so reliant on Luka Doncic&rsquo;s superlatives. The risk is he falters down the stretch in crunch-time of a tight contest. Everyone acknowledges that, and has watched it occur at times.&nbsp;
The positive, though, is how Luka's heliocentric approach preserves energy for everyone else and enables the Mavericks to play the hellacious defense they did for much of the second round (and this year). Had they been tasked with loftier offensive responsibilities, the defensive connectivity and timing may have suffered. Instead, their jobs were straightforward, and the defensive nuances headlined their checklist each night.
In Game 7, Dallas threw the kitchen sink at Booker (as well as at other points in this matchup). Paul clearly lacked the verve to boogie in ball-screens like he customarily would, so Booker emerged as Phoenix&rsquo;s primary offensive creator &mdash; a storyline that bubbled over the course of the series.&nbsp;
To stymie the Suns&rsquo; offense, the Mavericks repeatedly blitzed or trapped Booker and funneled offense to unsuitable decision-makers. Players like Bridges, Crowder and Torrey Craig received passes with Dallas&rsquo; defense still slightly recovering after a show or double-team. None of them proved adept to burn the Mavericks for that gambit.
Booker is an excellent player and a deserving All-Star. He will rightfully make his inaugural All-NBA appearance this season. But Phoenix&rsquo;s offense generally functions at its peak when Paul is orchestrating. Through increasingly applying full-court pressure against the Point God and targeting him on switches defensively, the Mavericks wore him down and disrupted the Suns&rsquo; offensive hierarchy.
Paul and Ayton have fostered <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/there-are-no-good-answers-for-the-chris-pauldeandre-ayton-duo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">delightful synergy in pick-and-rolls</a>, while Paul&rsquo;s historically great passing wizardry sets up Bridges, Crowder and Cameron Johnson to work off advantages. Booker is, of course, the superior scorer, yet Dallas quelled his trademark play. In doing so, it thrust his shortcomings under the microscope and dared him to win as an elite decision-maker.&nbsp;
He couldn&rsquo;t, and Booker, along with the 64-win, top-seeded Suns, were sent home far earlier than they envisioned this postseason.
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Jackson Frank digs into what the Mavericks did to stifle Devin Booker and the Suns' offense.

How the Mavericks slowed Devin Booker by forcing him to improvise

PHOENIX (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic scored 35 points, Spencer Dinwiddie added 30 and the Dallas Mavericks stunned the top-seeded Phoenix Suns with a 123-90 Game 7 blowout Sunday night, advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2011.
Dallas broke through on the road after the home team won the first six games of the series, dominating in a hostile environment from start to finish. Conversely, it was an embarrassing no-show for the playoff-tested Suns &mdash; who advanced to the NBA Finals last season with a very similar roster.
The fourth-seeded Mavericks travel to face Golden State in Game 1 on Wednesday.
Doncic earned the Mavs an early lead, making his first three shots, including two 3-pointers. That helped Dallas push to a 27-17 advantage in the first quarter and a whopping 57-27 cushion at the halftime break.
Doncic and Dinwiddie, who came off the bench, combined to pour in 48 of the Mavericks' 57 points.
Game 7 drama? Not in the desert.
Simply put, the Suns looked overwhelmed by the pressure of a Game 7. They missed shots they usually make, made bad passes they usually don't make and looked nothing like the team that won an NBA-best 64 games during the regular season.
By halftime, many Suns fans were booing at the unsightly display.
The series might have been close, but the individual games usually were not. Three of the first six games were decided by at least 20 points and none of the games came down to the final possession. The average margin of victory across the seven games was 19.4 points.
Game 7 followed a similar pattern, except the team doing all the damage was the road team. Doncic was fantastic, making shots from all over the floor and finishing 12 of 19 from the field, including 6 of 11 on 3s. He also got some help: Dinwiddie was fantastic in the first half with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, Phoenix's All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker was never a factor. The 37-year-old Paul is a 12-time All-Star that has done just about everything possible in the game except win a championship.
After this setback, it's fair to wonder if there will be many more opportunities. Booker finished with 11 points and shot 3 of 14. Paul had 10 points and four assists. The Suns shot just 37.9% from the field.
Dallas beat the odds with the win: After the Celtics defeated the Bucks earlier Sunday, the home team was 110-33 (77%) in NBA Game 7s.
It's the second straight year the Suns have lost a playoff series after having a 2-0 lead. They won the first two games against the Bucks in the NBA Finals last season before losing four straight games.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Doncic and Dinwiddie were the first teammates to have at least 20 points in a half in Game 7 since Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston did it for the Knicks in 1997, according to ESPN Stats &amp; Info.
Suns: Phoenix shot just 6 of 23 (26.1%) from the field in the first quarter. ... The Suns hosted another sellout crowd at Footprint Center. Celebrities in attendance included baseball great Alex Rodriguez and rapper Lil' Wayne. ... The Suns are the second team in NBA history to win at least 64 games in the regular season and not make the Conference Finals. The other was the Mavericks in 2007. ... Phoenix has still never won a title since coming into the league in 1968.

The Dallas Mavericks stunned the Phoenix Suns in Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Luka Doncic leads Mavs over Suns 123-90 in Game 7 blowout

The Milwaukee Bucks want to build off the momentum from a thrilling comeback. The Golden State Warriors seek to put an embarrassing loss behind them as both teams attempt to end their second-round series.
Both have 3-2 leads and are at home Friday night for Game 6. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-boston-celtics-nba-sports-jrue-holiday-283eb76b6fe3d6f0f13f25cef890ebb8">The defending NBA champion Bucks rallied from a 14-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win 110-107 in Boston </a> on Wednesday night while the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-steven-adams-dec896a83e00219d5d7e118e7cd3dd82">Warriors squandered an opportunity to close out their series by losing 134-95 at Memphis.</a>
&ldquo;At the end of the day, we can&rsquo;t get too high from this,&rdquo; Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said after the Buck&rsquo; Game 5 victory. &ldquo;Obviously, it&rsquo;s great to win the game, great to go back home and feel good ourselves, but the job is not done.&rdquo;
Although Milwaukee is savoring an emotional win and Golden State is coming off a blowout loss, the trends of these series indicate the Warriors should feel more comfortable going home.
The home-court advantage hasn&rsquo;t meant much in the Bucks-Celtics series. The road team has won three of the five games, including each of the last two.
Through the first five games of the other three second-round series, home teams owned a 14-1 record. The Warriors are 2-0 at home against the Grizzlies after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/memphis-grizzlies-golden-state-warriors-nba-sports-san-francisco-58423e24a28a1254004f6a00a5c1b83c">winning 142-112 in Game 3</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-tyus-jones-a8a966c6b43a04e7eba8b85e5811e638">101-98 in Game 4. </a>
History suggests the lopsided nature of Golden State&rsquo;s Game 5 loss shouldn&rsquo;t have a carryover effect. The Warriors are the sixth team in the past 10 years to lose by at least 39 points in a playoff game that didn&rsquo;t end a series. Four of the previous five losing teams won their next game.
&ldquo;Well, it doesn&rsquo;t feel good losing by as much as we did,&rdquo; Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. &ldquo;At the end of the day it is just a loss and you flush it from your mental and you remind yourselves who you are. You go in and play with 100% effort on Friday, and I like our chances.&rdquo;
The Grizzlies also have reason to feel confident, even with <a href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-jordan-poole-5d6963a01c0f84c7421c9f4ff7711011">Ja Morant likely out for the rest of the postseason</a> with a bone bruise in his right knee. The Grizzlies have gone 1-1 against the Warriors since Morant&rsquo;s injury and are 21-6 in games their All-Star guard has missed this season.
&ldquo;We know how to respond,&rdquo; Grizzlies guard/forward Dillon Brooks said. &ldquo;We know how to play with each other better than any team in the NBA.&rdquo;
In the Celtics-Bucks series, the teams have alternated victories through the first five games. The Celtics&rsquo; season depends on that pattern continuing Friday.
The series has been full of comebacks already. The Celtics want to close it out by rallying from a 3-2 deficit and winning a potential Game 7 in Boston on Sunday.
&ldquo;We had a golden opportunity,&rdquo; Celtics coach Ime Udoka said after the Game 5 loss. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the story here. It&rsquo;s going to be tougher now. Got to go get two in a row. But what we&rsquo;ve done throughout this series and throughout this season is bounce back when we&rsquo;ve been tested.&rdquo;
CELTICS AT BUCKS
Bucks lead 3-2. Game 6, 7:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: The Bucks took the series lead with a Game 5 comeback as Bobby Portis scored the go-ahead basket on a putback of a missed Antetokounmpo free throw with 15 seconds left. Jrue Holiday sealed the victory by getting a block and a steal in the last 10 seconds. Antetokounmpo had 40 points. The team that has led entering the fourth quarter has lost the last three games of this series.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Rebounding. Over the past two games, the Bucks have outrebounded the Celtics 97-74 and own a 32-18 advantage in second-chance points.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Bucks F Khris Middleton will miss a ninth straight playoff game with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Celtics F/C Robert Williams III has missed two straight games with a sore left knee and is questionable for Game 6.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: Celtics F Jayson Tatum. The three-time All-Star has been productive, scoring 34 points in Game 5 and 30 in Game 4. But he's just 5 of 27 from 3-point range over his last three games after going 9 of 19 from beyond the arc in the first two games of this series. Tatum will need to regain his 3-point accuracy for the Celtics to win this series.
GRIZZLIES AT WARRIORS
Warriors lead 3-2. Game 6, 10 p.m. EDT, ESPN.
&mdash; NEED TO KNOW: Golden State committed 22 turnovers that led to 29 Grizzlies points in Memphis&rsquo; Game 5 blowout victory. Every starter for the Warriors had a negative plus-minus rating. Thompson&rsquo;s minus-45 rating tied the worst plus-minus in any playoff game over the past 25 years with Andre Drummond&rsquo;s minus-45 against Milwaukee in 2019.
&mdash; KEEP AN EYE ON: Memphis used its size advantage with 6-foot-11 Steven Adams leading the way to outrebound the Warriors for the first time in this series with a 55-37 edge on the boards. The Grizzlies had an 18-4 difference on the offensive boards, leading to a 24-5 scoring advantage in second-chance points.
&mdash; INJURY WATCH: Golden State&rsquo;s Otto Porter Jr. dealt with right foot soreness that kept him out the second half of Game 5. His status is questionable. ... Warriors coach Steve Kerr could be recovered from his two-game absence with COVID-19 in time for Game 6, though that hadn&rsquo;t yet been determined. He needs two negative tests first. ... Morant has missed two games and remains doubtful to return this postseason.
&mdash; PRESSURE IS ON: The Warriors. Memphis is the youngest team to reach this round in 25 years, so forcing this series to a sixth game already is a big accomplishment with Morant injured. Each team has had a blowout win with each of the other three games decided by five points or less. But over the last two games without Morant, Memphis has led for all but the final 45.7 seconds of Game 5.
___
AP Sports Writers Kyle Hightower, Janie McCauley and Teresa M. Walker contributed to this report.

The Bucks want to build off the momentum from a thrilling comeback, and the Warriors seek to put an embarrassing loss behind them.

Bucks, Warriors try to close out second-round series at home

"Joel Embiid is so distracted, in my opinion, by this MVP thing... he's not there tonight."&nbsp;
That was the opening statement from analyst Charles Barkley during TNT's halftime show. At this point, the Miami Heat held a 56-44 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers. Embiid had 6 points (on 6 shots) and a trio of twos: 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers.
Barkley pointed to Embiid's lack of aggression, and wondered if he was able to channel his alleged frustration.&nbsp;
"Ernie [Johnson], when you are mad about something, it can work both ways. It's working the wrong way for Joel Embiid tonight. He is so distracted... Derek Smith, Rick Mahorn, and Dan Marjerle, they told me, man, 'Dude, you're playing like&nbsp;crap.&nbsp;Get your head out your a** and play better.' Someone needs to tell [Embiid] that."
Strong words, strong take. However, it's a take that ignores a couple of things.&nbsp;
1) Embiid shouldn't be playing right now, and I'd wager he wouldn't be if his current set of injuries &mdash; a torn ligament in his thumb and an orbital fracture that's forced him to wear a hammer-proof mask, while also recovering from a freaking concussion &mdash; occured during the regular season. Though fans pretend otherwise, injury recovery isn't linear! Sometimes you feel great, other times you're in pain! Add in a hard bump he took during a rebound fight with Dewayne Dedmon, and, yeah, Embiid probably wasn't his best!
2) Aside from Embiid's physical state, he wasn't on the court using 2K's practice mode. There was a basketball team on the other side hoping to limit his effectiveness. They should&nbsp;probably&nbsp;be commended for doing that in Game 5.
Actually, let's focus on the second point for a moment.&nbsp;
Embiid finished Game 5 with 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting. His All-Star running mate, James Harden, racked up a modest 14-6-4 line while shooting 5 of 13 from the field. Normally a duo that lives at the free-throw line, they combined for 6 free throw attempts.
What on earth happened?
The big picture takeaway: the Heat chose a different way to defend Harden-Embiid ball screens.
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Embiid had set 597 picks for Harden since his Sixers debut, excluding Tuesday night's Game 5, per Second Spectrum. They generated a monstrous 1.18 points per possession (PPP) on direct plays; for reference, the Utah Jazz had the NBA's best offense with a slightly lower mark (1.16 PPP).
They're one of 18 duos with at least 300 picks under their belt in that time frame. Only two pairings &mdash; <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/there-are-no-good-answers-for-the-chris-pauldeandre-ayton-duo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton</a> (456 picks, 1.29 PPP), Trae Young and Clint Capela (626, 1.21 PPP) &mdash; were more effective on direct hookups.
Teams have been searching for answers since the Sixers traded for the bearded fella. With two players as skilled, as crafty and as different (Embiid's a towering 7-footer, Harden a brick wall at 6-foot-5) as them, each scheme poses a different set of problems.
Sending two to the ball hasn't been fruitful. Harden's too good of a passer, and Embiid's too dominant as a scorer to feed him short-roll opportunities. Playing drop can be problematic if the screen navigation, gap defense and help defense aren't working in tandem.
Switching has been the simplest, erase-the-gaps solution for teams. It's the most frequent coverage the Sixers duo has seen. But that's feeding Harden a big, and Embiid a smaller guy. Despite <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-james-hardenjoel-embiid-duo-needs-to-flip-the-switch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">early concerns about Harden</a>, the Sixers are now scoring over a point per possession when their star tandem gets a switch, per Second Spectrum.
That was the primary method the Heat went with in Game 3 and 4. With a smaller body consistently placed on Embiid after a switch, the Heat had to work extra hard to make sure the Sixers couldn't exploit it. That meant fronting Embiid on the block. And with those fronts, the Heat had to send an extra defender to help on the catch.
It's hard to send two bodies to Embiid while restricting space for Harden drives. To do that while also staying attached to Tobias Harris and being in position to contain Tyrese Maxey, aaaaand keeping tabs on cut-master Danny Green, is a losing battle. You're asking your defense to be perfect at that point. The Heat are elite, but they aren't perfect.
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In Game 5, they decided to effectively kill the switch. The Harden-Embiid duo connected for 16 picks. The Heat only switched three of them; of those three switches, only one of them came within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock.
PJ Tucker was tasked with ducking under screens against Harden, basically daring him to shoot from deep. With Tucker playing more conservatively, Bam Adebayo was able to stay attached to Embiid whenever he attempted to roll to the basket.
With this strategy, the Heat were able to turn things into more of a 2-on-2 affair. If Harden couldn't get downhill, the Heat didn't have to completely shift their defense. That means smaller or flat-out eliminated cracks for Harris or Maxey to attack.
Take this early possession in Game 5. The Sixers are looking to set up an empty-corner ball-screen for Harden and Embiid. If a switch is forced, the Heat would have to do some digging, figuratively and literally, to make the SIxers work for a good look. Instead, Tucker baits Harden into a pull-up by ducking under the screen, and still gets a good contest on the shot.
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The Heat will live with that.&nbsp;
Harden knocks down a three on the possession below, but look at the rest of the Heat's defense. More importantly, look at the other three Sixers. They're stationary. Without Harden putting pressure on the rim, there's no need for the Heat to sell out. Butler shows a body at the nail, but that's about it.
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The Heat will live with that.
One more example, this time from the fourth quarter.
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It's Victor Oladipo (heck of a series for him) and Adebayo working in tandem. Oladipo does a great job of reconnecting with Harden. Adebayo is dropping to take away the roll from Embiid. Butler is peeled in for help, but there's no pressing threat here. The Heat don't have to&nbsp;scramble.
There are counters to be made if you're the Sixers. On the possession above, Maxey could either lift to the wing, or get deeper in the corner to really stress Butler out as a help defender. Having one shooter on that side doesn't have the same effect if he's basically in line with Butler.
As my co-host <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr.</a> mentioned on the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest episode of The Dunker Spot</a>, the Sixers can counter drop coverage by having Embiid flip his angle and rescreen if the initial pick doesn't work. They&nbsp;did&nbsp;try it early in the first quarter, and you can see the kind of help the Heat shows from there.
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Tucker does a great job of fighting with Embiid, and the possession ultimately peters out from there, but there's a path to making that work.
But it's going to be up to the Sixers to counter the Heat's counter. They have to put the Heat back in rotation like they did in Games 3 and 4.
If Philadelphia can't, everyone on that side will have something to be mad about.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the Heat's defense of Joel Embiid and James Harden in Game 5.

How the Heat dropped the Sixers in Game 5

On Monday, Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown experienced arguably the craziest 24 hours of his 25-year coaching career.
The whirlwind of a day started that morning, when the Sacramento Kings announced that they were hiring Brown as their new head coach. Brown would continue coaching the Warriors throughout their postseason run, and then his four-year deal with the Kings would begin.
"Mike has consistently demonstrated his ability to lead winning teams throughout his long and successful coaching career," Kings general manager Monte McNair said in a press release. "He has worked with some of the best players in the NBA and is one of the league's premier defensive minds. I am excited to bring his extensive experience to Sacramento."
Previously, Brown coached the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers &mdash; even winning the NBA&rsquo;s Coach of the Year award in 2009. However, after working as an assistant coach under Steve Kerr in recent years, this would be his first head-coaching gig since 2014.
While Brown was understandably excited about this new opportunity, he tried to focus on the task at hand: beating the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The Warriors were up 2-1 in the series and Monday's game was pivotal.
Little did Brown know, he would be thrust back into a head-coaching role sooner than expected.
&ldquo;Steve called me on his way in at about 4:45, and said he just wasn't feeling well and there's a chance that he may not be able to coach tonight,&rdquo; Brown recalled. &ldquo;We've done this drill before, and so I said, &lsquo;Okay.&rsquo; He came in, got tested; I get a call back at 5:15 saying that he's out. So that's how I found out [I&rsquo;d be the head coach]."
That&rsquo;s not an easy transition to make moments before a game, and Brown admits that he felt nervous after receiving that call.
&ldquo;Obviously, there's butterflies because you're going into the game with a certain mindset and it's a big game,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;Every game that we play at this point in the year, it's huge. So to have that kind of thrown at you, you've got to switch gears because I know what my responsibilities are going in as 'Mike Brown the assistant coach,' and it changes. Now, you have to manage everything and not necessarily manage the specific things that you were asked to do before gametime. So, I had to change hats quickly.&rdquo;
The atmosphere surrounding this playoff game was unique too, as Draymond Green was playing with a heavy heart. Earlier that afternoon, Green learned that his college teammate Adreian Payne had been shot and killed the night before in Orlando. Green and Payne played together for two seasons at Michigan State, and Green was devastated. (Green announced a $100,000 fund in Payne's name and called on other Spartan alumni to contribute as well).
&ldquo;I love Draymond and when he hurts, we all hurt,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;It was an up-and-down, emotional day.&rdquo;
Despite everything the Warriors were dealing with, they managed to beat the Grizzlies 101-98 to take a 3-1 lead in the series.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I'm so proud of them," Brown said. "Our leader in Steve being out with COVID right before the game. Draymond, emotionally, he's our emotional heart and soul, and for him to get hit with something that impactful, not only was it tough for him, but we felt it. We felt it as a group. It was a tough night for us. But at this point in the year, you win ball games. It doesn't matter how you get there, but you win ball games. We found a way to win tonight and that's why I'm excited.
&ldquo;When we went in the back, [Warriors assistant] Chris DeMarco says, &lsquo;Punch 42. Dive 52.&rsquo; I'm like, &lsquo;What are you talking about?&rsquo; He said, &lsquo;We just kept handing the ball off to the fullback left and right, and at the end of the game, we kicked a field goal to win it. Hell of a football game.&rsquo; And that's what it was. But that's playoff basketball. Sometimes it's grimy. Sometimes it's gritty. They turned it into that in Game 2 in Memphis and we lost. They turned it into that again tonight, especially with Ja [Morant] out, but our guys found a way."
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While Stephen Curry led the way with 32 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, Brown credited the leadership of Green and Andre Iguodala, while also shouting out the rest of Golden State&rsquo;s coaching staff.
&ldquo;Andre, I know he's not playing but just his voice, his presence, he's always saying the right thing. It uplifts all of us; it uplifted me,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;I told him and Draymond, &lsquo;I need you guys tonight. I need you guys. I'm going to lean on you guys.&rsquo; And those guys stayed steady the whole game; Andre on the bench, obviously, and Draymond out on the floor.
&ldquo;To have veterans like Andre and Draymond who have been through the highs and lows of many playoffs series, when they are reassuring the guys of that, it gives everybody else confidence because we are playing guys right now who haven't been as far. Again, their presence, their voice, their calmness, their reassurance, all that stuff means a lot for our group, especially with Steve out&hellip; All of our guys &ndash; Kenny Atkinson, Bruce Fraser, Chris DeMarco, Jama [Mahlalela], [Dejan Milojevic], all of our coaches &ndash; were fantastic.&rdquo;
After the game, Curry and Klay Thompson raved about Brown and how well he did on such short notice. They both pointed out that Brown had thrived in this position before back in 2017, when Kerr missed a stretch due to back pain and Brown led the team to an 11-0 record.
&ldquo;It's been a wild day all the way around,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;You just had to kind of figure it out on the fly. And I understand we've been through this before &mdash; guys that were here in 2016-17, with Coach [Kerr] and his back problems back in the day when he was out of the lineup and still had an influence. Mike B. stepped up, so we really didn't have a lot of time to react&hellip; He's coached in Finals before, coached some high-powered teams, some big-market teams &ndash; he's been through it all. He&rsquo;s been with us for these last six years, and he's been interim coach for a little bit and made his presence felt, especially defensively leading us this year. He has a good presence about him, a great way about him.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Really happy for Mike B.,&rdquo; Thompson added. &ldquo;He's going to do great things for Sacramento. His head-coaching record for Warriors playoff games, I think, is undefeated. We did miss Steve a lot, just his voice, his presence. But we've been here before in 2017 when Mike took over and we rolled off a lot of wins. I reflected on that a lot. Just an up-and-down day as far as emotions&hellip; It was an emotional day. Prayers up to Adreian and his family and Draymond; I know they played together. Just a terrible loss of life and his legacy will live on. It was just a sad day.&rdquo;
Brown will once again coach the Warriors in Game 5 tonight &mdash; this time with significantly more heads up. And, in typical Kerr fashion, Brown praised his players and downplayed his role in the Game 4 win.
&ldquo;Any time you have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole and a guy who if he wasn't hurt would have been Defensive Player of the Year in Draymond Green on the floor, you know good things can happen,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;If it's a one- or two-possession game down the stretch, whether you're down or up, you feel pretty confident. A lot of it has to do with the playoff experience that these guys have, but their talent and IQ, in my opinion, are second-to-none.&rdquo;
Brown will never forget the day that the Kings hired him, and he'll likely go down as an interesting trivia answer too.
"I don't know in history if [anyone else has been] named the head coach of two teams in 24 hours," Curry said with a laugh. &ldquo;He's continuing to set many trends!&rdquo;
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Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown experienced arguably the craziest 24 hours of his 25-year coaching career on Monday.

A crazy day: Mike Brown gets Kings' job, then fills in for Steve Kerr

Stephen Curry converted eight free throws over the final 45.7 seconds on the way to 32 points, leading the Golden State Warriors&rsquo; fourth-quarter comeback for a 101-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night and a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
Curry also dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds as Golden State rallied to win without coach Steve Kerr after he tested positive for COVID-19 less than two hours before tipoff.
Curry took charge just like he has so many times on the playoff stage and now his Warriors are one win from a trip to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2019. He tied it at 90 on a fall-away baseline jumper with 3:25 to go and his two free throws with 45.7 seconds to go gave the Warriors a 94-93 lead, their first of the night.
Tyus Jones had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists as Memphis missed injured All-Star Ja Morant. Dillon Brooks returned from a one-game suspension and struggled mightily, missing a 3-point try with 53 seconds left and finishing 5 for 19 with 12 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Klay Thompson scored 14 points despite missing all seven of his 3-point attempts for the cold-shooting Warriors, who didn&rsquo;t have to contend with do-everything Morant this time. The Grizzlies guard missed the game with soreness in his right knee after Jordan Poole grabbed him while going for a loose ball late in Game 3 &mdash; leading Morant and Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins to question Poole&rsquo;s intentions.&nbsp;
It remained unclear whether Morant would be back for Game 5 on Wednesday in Memphis.
Brooks sat out Game 3 as a penalty by the league for his Flagrant 2 foul that injured Gary Payton II in Game 2, when Brooks hit the Golden State guard over the head on a driving layup attempt and Payton fell hard and broke his left elbow. Kerr called it a &ldquo;dirty&rdquo; play and said Brooks had broken an NBA code of conduct.
Brooks was booed nearly every time he touched the ball, fouled or when he checked back into the game.
Golden State trailed 69-62 going into the fourth quarter after Desmond Bane&rsquo;s 32-foot 3-pointer beat the third-quarter buzzer. However, both teams struggled all night to make their 3s.
Kerr was replaced by associate head coach Mike Brown, who agreed Sunday to become the Sacramento Kings new coach after this postseason run.
Poole scored 14 off the bench for the Warriors as they survived a nail-biter following a postseason-record point total in Saturday&rsquo;s 142-112 Game 3 blowout.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
Curry sported special edition pair of orange Curry 9 Flow sneakers with colorful decorations to honor the late TNT broadcaster Craig Sager and his impact on the NBA.
Curry will autograph the shoes for auction on Wednesday on the NBA auction website with all proceeds going to the SagerStrong Foundation. The two-time MVP changed to lavender-colored sneakers in the second half.
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: C Steven Adams, who returned from the health and safety protocols to play six minutes in the waning moments of Saturday&rsquo;s blowout, started and contributed 10 points and 15 rebounds as Memphis did a better job staying with the Warriors on the boards &mdash; outrebounded 54-48. ... The Grizzlies were 9 of 35 on 3s.
Warriors: The Warriors committed 11 first-half turnovers and 16 total. ... Golden State started 0 for 15 from deep before Otto Porter Jr. connected 3:24 before halftime. Thompson missed all seven of his 3s and Curry his initial five before becoming the first player in NBA history to make 500 postseason 3-pointers when he connected 46.2 seconds before halftime. ... The Warriors were the first team to go 0 of 15 from long range to start a game since the 2011 Thunder were 0 for 16 against Dallas in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, according to Elias. ... The Warriors had no immediate additional positive COVID tests, the team said.&nbsp;

Stephen Curry converted eight free throws over the final 45.7 seconds on the way to 32 points, leading the Warriors’ comeback.

Curry, Warriors rally past Grizzlies 101-98 for 3-1 lead

The Boston Celtics are the NBA's biggest shapeshifters.
Boston entered the second round of the 2022 postseason coming off a dominant 4-0 sweep against the Brooklyn Nets, a team that many pegged as preseason championship favorites. The Celtics appeared mostly unphased by Brooklyn's glossy star power, stymying Kevin Durant&mdash;and to a lesser degree, Kyrie Irving&mdash;with a sea of arms and defense working on a string. Boston helped liberally off Brooklyn's non-shooters to throw two and sometimes three bodies at Kevin Durant. Forcing Durant into becoming a passer produced an uncharacteristic playoff performance, a theme I detailed in both <a href="https://www.netsdaily.com/2022/4/23/23037554/as-brooklyns-best-all-around-player-its-time-for-kevin-durant-to-show-it">writing</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAtTgfjtQUk">video</a>.
It wasn't necessarily surprising to see Ime Udoka carry over that strategy into the second round versus a Milwaukee Bucks team missing its biggest release valve, Khris Middleton, who remains out with a knee sprain. Hypothetically, halting Giannis Antetokounmpo's production with a slew of double-teams would slow Milwaukee's 5th-ranked regular-season offense. To their credit, Udoka's ploy worked; Giannis mustered 24 points on 25 shots during a fairly inefficent Game 1.
There was one problem.
Much has been made about Giannis' improvements as a free-throw shooter and mid-post scorer this season, but there's a real argument to be made that his biggest leap has come from his passing.&nbsp;He showcased that growth in Game 1, mapping out 12 assists amid significant ball pressure. It was his second-highest assist total in a playoff game ever.
Milwaukee brought its A-game in terms of spacing, assuring that Antetokounmpo was flanked by his strongest shooting options on the same side of the floor. When Boston brought in help from the entry passer on post-ups, Giannis quickly sussed out the correct read to the open shooter. Marcus Smart turned his head for just a brief second to take a peak at Grant Williams battling with Antetokounmpo, and low and behold, the ball was basically already in Grayson Allen's hands for a quick strike catch-and-release three.
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Giannis punished even the slightest of micro-hesitations from Boston. Here, Jaylen Brown is gapped at the nail to take away the drive going middle for Giannis, but when he leaned over ever so slightly to stunt at the ball, Antetokounmpo flipped a kick-out pass to Pat Connaughton the moment Brown's left foot made contact with the floor.&nbsp;
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On drives to the rim, Boston made it clear their intent was to shadow the two-time MVP in the event that he found a way to bruise his way to the middle with his signature EuroGyro-Step or whiplash-inducing spin-move. Here, Grant Williams stalks Antetokounmpo all the way down to the restricted circle, and Giannis heaves one of the nastiest passes of the postseason to Bobby Portis at the top of the key. I mean, goodness gracious. Look at this dime!
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The area in which Antetokounmpo discerned himself the most&mdash;at least in Game 1&mdash;from Durant was that he trusted his teammates early and often. Boston preyed on KD's tendency to overdribble into a crowd from the top of the key instead of getting off the ball early and relocating for better shots. Giannis, meanwhile, understood the full magnitude of his gravity from the jump and put full faith in his championship-winning teammates to complete possessions.
Here, Boston builds a "wall" by basically having Jayson Tatum stay attached to the left elbow as if he's in a zone alongside Al Horford at the right elbow. Collectively, their goal is to completely erase any and all room for Giannis to burrow his way to the cup. But in doing so, Tatum hands off Bobby Portis to Jaylen Brown, who is now tasked with keeping tabs on Portis and Allen in the strong-side corner. Suddenly without a matchup, Portis tip-toes underneath the rim, Giannis quickly whips a pass his way and when both Brown and Robert Williams lurch forward to clean up the mistake, it's a three-pointer for Connaughton.
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Overall, 7 of Antetokounmpo's 12 assists generated three-pointers, and more than half of Milwaukee's 12 made threes came from its star's willingness to share. The fascinating thing is, the Bucks left food on the table. Giannis had 17 potential assists in Game 1, which measures any pass to a teammate who shoots within 1 dribble of receiving the ball, per NBA's stat glossary.
Clearly, after getting dogged by as many as 15 points late in the fourth quarter, Boston had to go back to the drawing board. That's where Ime Udoka tends to shine.
Boston entered Game 2 with a completely different approach. Rather than showing Antetokounmpo multiple bodies on the catch, the Celtics entrusted their brawniest, strongest and most versatile defenders to hold their own.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re guarding him well one-on-one but want to mix it up and give him different looks,&rdquo; Udoka said after Game 2. &ldquo;I felt after Game 1 that we helped inappropriately at times and gave up some of those 3s when guys were in good position to guard him, or he kind of baited a little bit. So we want to be a little more deliberate when we went on him, on what situations in Game 2, and I felt like we did that.&rdquo;
Udoka's chosen soldiers to grapple with perhaps the league's most dominant interior force were Al Horford and Grant Williams. Each presented different strategies and attributes to tangle with Milwaukee's Greek God, yet collectively they forced him into 8-of-22 shooting and 3 turnovers in Game 2.&nbsp;
In one corner, we had Williams, who despite having a 5-inch height disadvantage, battled Antetokounmpo with a low center of gravity and strong base. The 22-year-old accepted Giannis' low-post forrays using a deep and low defensive stance, absorbing his body blows like a PVA sponge. Despite the defending Finals MVP's best efforts, he couldn't move the 236-pound micro-center, who used those aggressive shoulder bumps to knock Antetokounmpo off his spots. Williams was prepared for every move, playing a defensive boxing game like, say, Floyd Mayweather.
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(One thing to note in both of these clips: Notice how it's Jrue Holiday instead of Grayson Allen as the nearby entry passer for Antetokounmpo, who obviously isn't as threatening from deep one pass away. As noted earlier, Milwaukee displayed hyperawareness to its spacing in Game 1, yet waned in this category in the second of the two games. This is an area of improvement for the Bucks going forward.)
Regardless, Williams' immovability frustrated Antetokounmpo. This elbow to the face was a reflection of just how anchored Williams was down low:
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"We talked about guarding him a little bit more 1-on-1. We feel like we have the defensive guys to do it," Udoka said. "Grant's a big part of that. His versatility is something I talk about. He's like a mini Al (Horford) out there. His versatility to be able to switch onto guards and guard (Giannis) 1-on-1 in the post and be physical and frustrate him to some extent is what we need with a player like that. That's one of Grant's main strengths is guarding guys like that."
In the other corner, we had Horford, who may not present the same level of mass as his co-Giannis deterrent, Williams, but instead blended an impressive mesh of size (6'9"), defensive IQ, and hip flexibility to keep pace with Antetokounmpo. Williams defended Giannis with sponginess, while Horford moved and hounded the Bucks' star like a shadow. Horford is afforded the ability to pick up the Greek Freak much higher up the floor than Williams. Horford's immaculate footwork that could set high-scores on DDR arcade games and a 7'1" daylight-erasing wingspan work hand-in-hand in this regard.&nbsp;
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Continuing the boxing analogy, Horford could best be compared to someone like Tyson Fury, who moves in a way that shouldn't be possible for someone his size, perpetually remaining two steps ahead of his opponent. Exquisite fundamentals and uncanny flexibility shape both of these athletes' impressive careers.
Plus, Horford is well-versed in the Giannis assignment after meeting up three separate times in the postseason (2018, 2019 and 2022). Below, he's all too prepared for Antetokounmpo's spin move, flipping his hips quickly and then swiping down on the ball for a strip-steal to ignite the fastbreak.
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&ldquo;Getting hits early, meeting him around free-throw line area, not letting him bury you too deep,&rdquo; said Udoka after Game 2, echoing the tenets of Horford's defensive strategy versus Antetokounmpo. &ldquo;You want to push his catches out, that&rsquo;s the first part. Make him do his work early, and I think they did that, bodied up and didn&rsquo;t let him get deep position."
Horford has held Giannis to just 6-of-22 shooting in the series, by far the best showing of any player that has defended the Greek Freak in these playoffs for more than 10 partial possessions. In fact, Antetokounmpo's 27% shooting would be his third-worst performance against a defensive matchup who saw more than 50 partial matchups in the playoffs since the NBA started tracking this data, second to only Serge Ibaka in 2019 (18.8%) and Bam Adebayo in 2021 (18.8%).&nbsp;
Ultimately, it's likely that Antetokounmpo finds his way out of this Lucky Charm-sized hole. For as much as Boston has frustrated him defensively, a full 20.5% dropoff in true shooting from the regular season to the postseason feels almost inconceivable and borderline improbable. Plus, it wouldn't be the first time that Giannis problem-solved his way out of a difficult matchup. Funny enough, his most famous time doing so occured in the first-round of the 2019 playoffs against the very same Al Horford and Boston Celtics.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Giannis, he always figures things out,&rdquo; said head coach Mike Budenholzer after the Game 2 loss.
Regardless, Boston's defense deserves its flowers. This is now the second top-3 player that has been utterly exhausted by this versatile and gritty unit. The Celtics, helmed by a defensive whiz in Ime Udoka, have showcased the requisite adjustability and creativity to withstand the different challenges found within the postseason crucible.
Thus far, they really haven't missed a beat.

It's time to give the Boston Celtics' defense the credit they deserve for holding Giannis Antetokounmpo to historically-low numbers.

The Celtics' defense is the story of the 2022 NBA playoffs

As the old saying goes: "The great ones will always get theirs."
Despite being stymied by the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-celtics-game-1-defense-on-kevin-durant-showcased-their-greatness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boston Celtics&rsquo; physicality</a>, Kevin Durant still averaged 26.3 points per game against them in their recent first-round duel. In 2019, Giannis Antetokounmpo still averaged 22.7 points a night when Air Canada built a wall in front of him. Hell, Dirk Nowitzki stumbled his way into 19.7 points per game when he got punked by the "We Believe" Golden State Warriors in 2007.&nbsp;
When it comes to the great ones, you can try to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/slowing-giannis-the-wall-still-the-way" target="_blank" rel="noopener">slow them down</a>, but you can never take them out of the dance entirely.
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But what about the really good ones?
For them, we&rsquo;ll need a different maxim. One that reads: Styles make fights.
In the right matchup, a player may dominate to the point where you wonder why he or she wasn't garnering more praise and recognition in the first place. Catch that individual in the wrong matchup, and you may feel the need to <a href="https://twitter.com/LegionHoops/status/462362175257206784?s=20&amp;t=_h9u5Y92QrIaa4uiBSwEBg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hang missing person posters</a> with his or her image and likeness plastered all over them.&nbsp;
Such is the story of Desmond Bane in the 2022 playoffs &ndash; except, fortunately for him, Memphis fans have refrained from doing him as dirty as Brooklyn did <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ten-years-ago-deron-williams-dropped-57-points-so-lets-talk-about-what-couldve-been" target="_blank" rel="noopener">D-Will</a> (there&rsquo;s still time though).
I hinted at this a bit in my recent article for <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2022/5/5/23056975/nba-playoffs-2022-young-players-grades-jalen-brunson-ja-morant">SB Nation</a>, but Bane was the primary beneficiary of the Minnesota Timberwolves&rsquo; blitzkrieg initiative for defanging Ja Morant.&nbsp;
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An interesting wrinkle here in these playoffs worth keeping tabs on: Desmond Bane w/Ja Morant (207 minutes): 69.8% TS Desmond Bane w/o Ja Morant (53 minutes): 38.5% TS This disparity marks the highest change in TS% of anyone on the team w/ or w/o Morant. Per PBP Stats.
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1521465156391292928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Minnesota regularly sent two at the ball on ball-screens featuring Morant (an alignment commonly referred to as a blitz/hedge). This led to the low-man defender constantly rotating over to tag the roller. And as a result, it created an open opportunity for Bane (a.k.a. the almighty conqueror of the <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1518193886866415618?s=20&amp;t=QaP2dugfYp6ZNzkvC5G9Qg">fly-by closeout</a>).
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Bane was electric against Timberwolves, shredding nylons to the tune of 23.5 points per game on 67.3% True Shooting &mdash; a performance that powered many to call him the Grizzlies&rsquo; best player in that series.&nbsp;
Now, here we are against Golden State, and, as <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dunker-spot/id1547857052">The Dunker Spot</a> crew likes to say, the math has changed (and, unfortunately, the physical integrity of his <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/warriors/news/desmond-banes-updated-injury-status-for-game-two" target="_blank" rel="noopener">back</a>).
First vs. Second Round Stats
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 17.3894%;">Desmond Bane</td>
<td style="width: 19.7392%;">Points Per Game*</td>
<td style="width: 16.8672%;">True Shooting*</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 17.3894%;">Minnesota&nbsp;</td>
<td style="width: 19.7392%;">23.5</td>
<td style="width: 16.8672%;">67.3%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 17.3894%;">Golden State&nbsp;</td>
<td style="width: 19.7392%;">7.0</td>
<td style="width: 16.8672%;">38.2%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Data Provided by Basketball-Reference
The Warriors have opted to switch or go under on screens, sag off Morant when he's got the ball and contest Ja's <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeVirayNBA/status/1520877541992845312?s=20&amp;t=ZChHUIVIRZnLSMkpyHiN3w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pull-up attempts softly</a>. This is all in order to avoid conceding interior looks to the league leader in points in the paint. (Hint: It hasn&rsquo;t worked <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1522600176413814786?s=20&amp;t=xjgbtFvQNK2kRYODJvxNZw">particularly well</a>.)
The theoretical benefit of this for the Warriors is that they aren&rsquo;t putting their defense in a state of automatic rotation, which negates a good portion of Bane&rsquo;s offensive value (he&rsquo;s made a killing this season capitalizing off the bent floors that Morant materializes for him).&nbsp;
This change in hardwood climate for Bane has coerced an adjustment in his shot diet. According to NBA.com shot-tracking data, Bane has gone from taking 6.2 catch-and-shoot jumpers against the Wolves to a mere 3.5 against the Warriors. With his off-ball volume being down, he&rsquo;s been forced to resort to multi-dribble looks to try and get himself going. And at this point in his development, these situations are just not optimal.
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With all this said, Golden State has still been showing help at the nail on Morant&rsquo;s drives, but every defensive scheme has its own idiosyncratic help principles for different players/matchups.
While Golden State's off-ball defenders may sag off and offer supplementary aid to whoever is tasked with point-of-attack duties, they are hesitant to overhelp off of Bane (which is great for the Grizzlies spacing).
Also, to their credit, the Warriors have been particularly stout in navigating screens when the Grizzlies attempt to feature Bane in his usual off-ball sets; <a href="https://twitter.com/NekiasNBA/status/1521838810694365185?s=20&amp;t=HWJUxLn0B1h-uEC11gW2bw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steph Curry</a> has been especially diligent in these spots.
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Warriors clearly locked in on Desmond Mane, comes off this screen, Klay there on the catch. Not giving him room. <a href="https://t.co/CmMwn8gyfJ">pic.twitter.com/CmMwn8gyfJ</a>
&mdash; Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20/status/1521671132763545600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2022</a></blockquote>

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This situation reminds me of a Mike Prada tweet I often ponder over internally in the doldrums of my mind. (Congrats on the new position, by the way!)
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Bev is well-equipped to guard Booker b/c he hits first. Devin wants to speed into the play, stop, hit you, then pivot off you. You disrupt that by getting into him early, and that's what Bev does. (This is also why Luka fried him. His move cadence is the inverse of Book's) <a href="https://t.co/aLvAd2k7EZ">https://t.co/aLvAd2k7EZ</a>
&mdash; Mike Prada. (PRAY-duh) (@MikePradaNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikePradaNBA/status/1408268764886482950?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Don&rsquo;t get me wrong. Bane is a better basketball player than Patrick Beverley (I have him in the top 50), but the former's current struggles are parallel with the ones the latter experienced last postseason.&nbsp;
Beverley went from starting in Games 1 and 2 against Dallas, to coming off the bench in Games 3 through 5, to never taking off his warmups in Games 6 and 7. In the following round, he was in the rotations, but only garnering 16-to-20 minutes with the second unit against the Utah Jazz.
However, Beverley would find his way back into the starting lineup against the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals, and administered a <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/201976/head-to-head?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;Season=2020-21">9-of-31 shooting</a> chokehold on Devin Booker in the 35-plus minutes he shadowed the All-Star guard.
Another example of this trend of matchups dictating production can be illustrated through Fred VanVleet, the guy many now call <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/making-all-star-case-fred-vanvleet-toronto-raptors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Freddy All-Star.&rdquo;</a>&nbsp;
In 2019, the smaller guard had no place against the Philadelphia 76ers&rsquo; lengthy backcourt duo of Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons, and so, he was relegated to 16.9 minutes per game and posted an awful 24.3% TS.
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However, VanVleet's math changed when he was gifted a <a href="https://www.sportscasting.com/fred-vanvleets-child-might-have-won-the-toronto-raptors-the-2019-nba-finals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">newborn child</a> and a more formulaic backcourt dynamic against the Milwaukee Bucks. In that series, he averaged 27.3 minutes and sizzled his way to an excellent 64.4% TS efficiency.
And then, in the following round, VanVleet's penchant for screen navigation and chasing Curry around off-ball made him an essential ingredient in the Toronto Raptors&rsquo; title-clinching series.&nbsp;
Even looking at the opposite side of this series, Jonathan Kuminga went from playing ~5 minutes per game against the craft-based Denver Nuggets to requiring ~15 per game against this more athletic Grizzlies unit.
We could do this all day, but for the sake of time (although it is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mhZBLUyybo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flat circle</a>), we will not be doing that.&nbsp;
The intent of this written soliloquy isn&rsquo;t to argue for less Bane in this series. He&rsquo;s so good that his defensive intensity, and the threat of his marksmanship, is enough to warrant a high-minute load (if he&rsquo;s healthy).&nbsp;
The point of this is to offer an explanation for his recent dip in play, and provide some solace for concerned fans who may fear that his recent slump hampers his long-term potential.&nbsp;
Unless you are a superstar-caliber player &mdash; or possess an incredibly versatile skil lset &mdash; your production on a series-to-series basis is likely to vary quite a bit based on your matchups.&nbsp;
Such is the truth about the NBA playoffs.
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Mat Issa discusses Desmond Bane's last two games in the postseason and how it illustrates the meaning of matchups.

Desmond Bane and the truth about matchups in the NBA Playoffs

During the Miami Heat&rsquo;s first-round dispatching of the Atlanta Hawks, Bam Adebayo showcased precisely why he finished among the top-five in Defensive Player of the Year voting this year. His perimeter mobility, length and wide-ranging ground coverage walled off drives for Trae Young and rendered a top-three regular-season offense untenable.&nbsp;
In three of those contests though, Adebayo took nine or fewer shots, including two games with a combined 11 shots and 15 points. Miami didn&rsquo;t encounter much trouble coasting past Atlanta, but Adebayo surely wasn&rsquo;t casting his holistic All-Star-caliber imprint upon the series.
Against the Philadelphia 76ers, Adebayo has been the series&rsquo; best player en route to a pair of blowout victories. Through two games, the 24-year-old is tallying 23.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals on 80% True Shooting. He&rsquo;s averaging 10.5 shots and 9.5 free throws, notable leaps from the 8.4 shots and 4.4 free throws he averaged during Round 1.&nbsp;
With Joel Embiid sidelined, the Sixers&rsquo; other options at center &mdash; DeAndre Jordan, Paul Reed, Millsap and Tobias Harris &mdash; are ill-equipped to contain Adebayo offensively. Some are too slow to track him (Jordan, Millsap). Others are too small (Millsap, Harris). Another is too inexperienced as he garners his first extended trial of playoff basketball (Reed).&nbsp;
Jordan&rsquo;s idle nature as a drop defender exposes him in pick-and-rolls. Harris lacks the length to alter the Heat center&rsquo;s finishes. Reed, prone to overzealous tendencies, has fallen for quite a few pump-fakes and has sent Adebayo to the foul line. Together, they&rsquo;ve all proven incapable of neutralizing or slowing his interior scoring prowess.&nbsp;
Adebayo isn&rsquo;t doing anything radically different to generate these heightened scoring numbers. He&rsquo;s just flourishing against a greatly beneficial matchup and amplifying Miami&rsquo;s leading perimeter duo of Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro.
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His timing and discretion as a roller have been crucial too. He routinely picks the optimal angle or path from which to begin his dives and sets hulking screens. Butler, Herro, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus have all been recipients of his excellent screening, and his keen understanding of when to migrate toward the rim eases the burden for ball-handlers.&nbsp;
With seven screen assists through two second-round duels (per NBA.com), only Deandre Ayton (10), Giannis Antetokounmpo (10) and Dwight Powell (8) have more. Scoff at that statistic to your heart&rsquo;s desire, but there&rsquo;s a degree of utility in it. Adebayo&rsquo;s screening is integral to the prosperity of Miami&rsquo;s half-court offense, which is not flooded with standstill creators and requires him to aid perimeter scorers in their quest for space.
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He&rsquo;s also snagged six offensive boards in two games while also occupying the attention of defenders to spring free teammates to gobble up second chances instead. Not only is Adebayo excelling in the glamor category of scoring, he&rsquo;s checking the boxes of grunge-work like screening and rebounding.&nbsp;
The Sixers likely want nothing to do with him the rest of the series. While they can&rsquo;t control how he imposes himself offensively, they&rsquo;ve quickly made evident their intention to avoid him defensively.&nbsp;
Among the sporadic instances in which he&rsquo;s directly involved in a possession, the way he vibrantly and aggressively embraces switches has flustered Philadelphia. He&rsquo;s erased driving angles numerous times and omnisciently roamed in help. Tyrese Maxey has struggled to attack downhill against him (though Maxey, with 34 points, was stellar in Game 2). Adebayo consistently obstructs assignments from turning the corner against him.
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The All-Star&rsquo;s brightest defensive superlative in this series has been his deterrence. Philadelphia&rsquo;s clear preference is to exclude him from the action altogether. According to NBA.com, he&rsquo;s been a primary defender for ~184 possessions, and those players have only attempted 17 shots against him. As a team, the Sixers have scored 155 points, good for 84.2 points per 100 possessions.&nbsp;
Most often, when Adebayo switches onto someone, they hardly even look to create and remain far removed from any threatening scoring position. As such, he can retreat to a free safety role, complicating passing windows and disincentivizing driving lanes.&nbsp;
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Whether it&rsquo;s Jordan, Reed, Millsap or Matisse Thybulle, Philadelphia is playing someone (or multiple someones) that Miami feels comfortable disregarding to suppress whatever Maxey, Harris or James Harden are looking to do. Adebayo is the man often tasked as a helper to further suppress those efforts.
During Adebayo&rsquo;s 67 minutes in this series, the Heat have outscored the Sixers, 166-125. During his 29 minutes on the pine, Philadelphia has outscored Miami, 70-59. He&rsquo;s the biggest (available) differentiator between a competitive pair of games and two double-digit wins for Miami.&nbsp;
Embiid&rsquo;s unfortunate absence pervades across various angles of this matchup. But it&rsquo;s perhaps been most pronounced in Adebayo&rsquo;s play, given the multifaceted manner in which he&rsquo;s overwhelming the Sixers. Until or if the big fella returns, these problems will likely persist for Philadelphia and continue to behoove Miami.&nbsp;
With Adebayo at the heart of everything, the Heat are in control, two wins away from their second conference finals appearance in three seasons.
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Bam Adebayo has been a difference-maker for the Miami Heat in Round 2, and Jackson Frank explains precisely why.

Bam Adebayo stands at the core of the Heat's second-round dominance

Though he didn't rule out re-signing with the Chicago Bulls, Zach LaVine didn't slam the door on joining another team, either.
The two-time All-Star played it coy. And with that, the offseason took a dramatic turn in Chicago.
LaVine made it clear Friday he plans to explore the market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career, calling it a &ldquo;big decision&rdquo; for him and his family. The high-flying guard insisted he is keeping an open mind, as much as he has enjoyed his five seasons in Chicago.
He indicated he intends to meet with other teams when free agency opens, saying: &ldquo;I plan to enjoy free agency. We're gonna have to experience A through Z without making any fast decisions. I think that's something me and (agent Rich Paul) are gonna go through and experience.&rdquo;
Are the Bulls the leader to sign him? LaVine was noncommittal.
&ldquo;You guys have been a really, really soft spot in my heart,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have to do this as a business decision, as a man, to not just be viewed one way and be like I'm automatically coming back or I'm automatically leaving.&rdquo;
The Bulls got off to a solid start this season en route to a 46-36 record and their first playoff appearance since 2017. But they were hit hard by injuries, with LaVine and guards Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso and forward Patrick Williams missing significant stretches. They struggled down the stretch and got knocked out 4-1 by defending NBA champion Milwaukee in the first round.
LaVine averaged 24.4 points, made his second straight All-Star team and got his first taste of the playoffs in his eighth year. But it was hardly a smooth season for him.
He dealt with an early thumb injury and was in and out of the lineup the final few months because of a sore left knee. He had platelet-rich plasma therapy, a cortisone injection and fluid drained from his knee in Los Angeles before the All-Star break.
LaVine also missed the final playoff game after entering the health and safety protocols. He said he tested negative Friday after he &ldquo;felt terrible&rdquo; the first two days.
LaVine said he needs to get his knee back to 100% and he'll have it re-examined soon after he returns home to Los Angeles. As for his contract? The Bulls clearly want to keep him.
&ldquo;The thing is that we have a relationship with him, he knows exactly what to expect here,&rdquo; executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said. &ldquo;We have a really good relationship with him. The last two years have been the best two years of his career, so we'll see what happens.&rdquo;
Karnisovas said the knee problem won't impact negotiations. LaVine's four-year, $78 million contract is about to expire.
A supermax deal worth about $245 million over five years appears to be out of reach since he would need to be chosen All-NBA, MVP or Defensive Player of the Year to become eligible. The Bulls can offer a max contract worth more than $210 million over five years.
But LaVine didn&rsquo;t seem too inclined to give the Bulls a discount so they might have a little more salary-cap flexibility.
&ldquo;I think it's important to me you get paid what you're valued at,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I see myself as a top guy in this league. I think I've proven that over the last four years.&rdquo;
He also sees potential for the Bulls to become an elite team. Karnisovas has been aggressive in reshaping the roster since he was hired two years ago, acquiring Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan, Ball and Caruso as well as drafting Ayo Dosunmu and hiring coach Billy Donovan.
But the injuries last season made it difficult to develop the continuity they needed to compete with the NBA's best. That's a point the players as well as Donovan and Karnisovas mentioned the past two days. A major part of that would be re-signing LaVine.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Rome was built in a year,&rdquo; LaVine said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can be a championship-caliber team right off the bat. Maybe some teams are. But it&rsquo;s tough. It&rsquo;s the first time a lot of us made the playoffs. I think it was a really good experience. And not all of us got to really play together due to circumstances of COVID and injury. I definitely think this is a good team and has the potential to be a championship-caliber team."
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Zach LaVine made it clear Friday he plans to explore the market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.

LaVine open to re-signing with Bulls, exploring free agency

A perfectly orchestrated out-of-bounds set is a thing of beauty.&nbsp;
Plays ran after timeouts, or ATOs as they're commonly referred to, are by far the most intricately designed sets in any NBA game.
We hear the phrase "read and react" quite frequently, but that's truly the best way to describe the typical flow of NBA offenses. Possessions in the half-court without any sort of stoppage regularly feature some sort of pick-and-roll or handoff action, maybe with 1-to-2 additional tinkerings depending on the team you're watching. But the point is: There is a great deal of freelancing going on out there. These guys are pros for a reason &mdash; they don't need a guy in a suit telling them exactly&nbsp;what to do for every second of the game.
ATOs, however, are quite different. They allow head coaches to step in, sit down with their players for a full minute and 15 seconds, precisely rehearse and recall a scripted action from practice, and, most of all, tactically prey on the weaknesses of an opponent.&nbsp;
And when they're executed well? Sheesh, there's truly nothing better.&nbsp;
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Now, just for size, imagine watching two back-to-back successful ATOs in the final eight seconds of a playoff game. That'd be crazy, right? Huh?! For all my play-by-play geeks out there?
Alas, that is what happened during Tuesday's Game 5 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Let's set the stage a little bit: This contest was not a gorgeous showing of pristine execution. It was a back-and-forth, frenetic affair, with both teams streaking up-and-down the floor like the Gatorade coolers had been spiked with C4 pre-workout. All of that speed didn't necessarily equate to production; collectively, both teams turned the ball over a ghastly 39 total times, and Memphis couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from deep at just 25.0% (7 of 28).
Minnesota controlled the tempo for most of Tuesday's game, building a lead as large as 13 in the second half. The Grizzlies looked dead in the water on their home floor, unable to get much of anything going in the halfcourt. Then, Ja Morant did this, and the mood completely changed...
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Chasing History -Episode 12 🏆 A jaw-dropping dunk&hellip;.a clutch late 3&hellip;.a game-winning shot. Ja Morant did it all in game 5, leading the Grizzlies to victory over the Timberwolves to take the 3-2 series lead. <a href="https://t.co/pKbwxriEws">pic.twitter.com/pKbwxriEws</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1519677816828313601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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(Seriously, it's tough to get enough of this freakin' dunk. BBN's Mark Schindler even <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/ja-morants-jadropping-dunk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote an entire article on it</a>! I mean, what the actual HECK, Temetrius Jamel Morant.)
That audacious poster lit something inside of Morant, who went on <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/how-the-grizzlies-helped-ja-morant-find-himself-as-a-scorer-in-game-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an absolute tear in the final period of the game</a>, eventually boosting his fourth-quarter point total to 16 after a pair of free throws. This put Memphis up by 3 with just eight seconds remaining.
With the first-round series hanging in the balance at 2-2, Minnesota needed a three-pointer more than ever to even things up at 109 apiece. And gosh darn it, Wolves head coach Chris Finch delivered.&nbsp;
Minnesota sets things up with Jordan McLaughlin inbounding, its two strongest offensive players &mdash; Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards &mdash;on the strong side of the floor and D'Angelo Russell and Jaden McDaniels on the weak side.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/screen-shot-2022-04-27-at-4-24-57-pm_lg.png" alt="" width="699" height="373" />
McLaughlin inbounds the ball to Towns at the left slot to initiate things. All the while, McDaniels streaks toward the left dunker spot and Russell brushes a backscreen for McDaniels. Then, Russell proceeds to "ghost" or fake a secondary back-screen for Edwards cutting up from the low block to the right slot.
Here's a video of that specific action involving that trio of players:
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In the end, it was a simple exchange of positioning; McDaniels had replaced Russell in the right dunker spot, Edwards had taken McDaniels' place as the lifted shooter on the weak side of the floor, and Russell was now in Edwards' spot on the strong side. But most importantly, Brandon Clarke, the largest Grizzly available, was now tasked with manning rim-protection duties as the "low man."
Now, let's zoom out a bit. Minnesota inbounds the ball to its most dangerous offensive player, Towns, who at this point has scored a team-high 28 points on the night. Yet as the inbounder, it's McLaughlin who is technically the most dangerous player on the floor, and so Towns immediately returns the rock to give the zippy backup a running start. As such, McLaughlin gains a step on his defender, Kyle Anderson, and this causes Clarke to hesitate for a second, unsure if he's supposed to protect the rim or track the weak-side shooters.
Because Clarke decides to hold his ground in the paint, Morant then becomes responsible for "zoning up" and guarding the two weak-side offensive players, Edwards and McDaniels. So, Edwards drifts down to the baseline for deep positioning to create a brutally tough angle of recovery, and McDaniels sets a back-screen on Edwards' man (Morant).
This specific screening setup is known as "exit" action, where one offensive player pins the "zoned-up" defender with a screen to generate a corner three for his teammate. (Finch loves&nbsp;his exit-screen plays, I tell ya.)
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McLaughlin flicks a ridiculous bounce pass to the corner like he's skipping rocks across a pond, and Edwards&mdash;quietly shooting ~42% on catch-and-shoot threes in the regular season and postseason&mdash;nails the corner jumper over an excellent closeout from Clarke.
Here's Finch's pi&egrave;ce de r&eacute;sistance in full:
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Tie game at 109.
Which meant it was Taylor Jenkins' time to cook for the Grizzlies' response.
Unlike Minnesota, Memphis set up by overloading one side of the floor with Desmond Bane, Anderson and Morant all sharing the strong side, and Tyus Jones on the weak side.
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Morant sets a cross-screen for Jones to cut across the paint, only to have Ja then come off a pindown screen from Desmond Bane. This specific action is known as "screen the screener," in which a player (Morant here) sets a screen for one teammate (Jones) and then receives a screen from another (Bane). Meanwhile, Anderson cuts across the paint from the left corner to the right slot to drag Minnesota's only rim-protector, Towns, completely out of the play.
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Memphis' screen-the-screener setup, or STS, forces Morant's defender (Edwards) to navigate not one, but two&nbsp;off-ball screens while tracking the hottest player on the floor. Edwards falls slightly behind the lightning-quick Morant, and exasperates things by gambling for the steal. Ant giveth, Ant taketh.
Now, Morant has the advantage with a free lane to the rim and Clarke in the right dunker spot. Jarred Vanderbilt rotates over to the stop the drive, and Towns inexplicably (??) turns his body away from the ball instead of rotating down to Clarke. This effectively leaves Vanderbilt in no man's land, forced to defend perhaps the best downhill dude in the league and&nbsp;a premier lob-threat... and, well, you know the rest.
Let's see the full play.
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Game. Set. Match. The Grizzlies went on to win Game 5 by a final of 111-109, and took an emphatic 3-2 lead in the series all behind Morant's 18 fourth-quarter points.
And sure, the night was dominated by the highlights (again, whew, that dunk), but it's sequences like the final eight seconds that make this NBA game what it is &mdash; great.
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Matt Brooks gives kudos to both Chris Finch and Taylor Jenkins for their ATOs in the crucial moments of Game 5 in Memphis.

Applauding Chris Finch and Taylor Jenkins' ATO play-calling wizardry

Mikal Bridges flying under the radar isn't a new development.&nbsp;
He's typically the fourth name you think about when it comes to these Suns. His defensive prowess may still be undersold; it remains baffling that he's on track to make his first&nbsp;All-Defensive team this season. We gotta watch more games, folks.
His Game 4 showing, however, was one of the rare times that his quiet nature was objectively a bad thing. With Chris Paul being pressed into oblivion, more was needed from the perimeter options. It would've been nice to see Bridges step up in the moment, especially since his defense &mdash; primarily on Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum &mdash; was well below his usual level. You can't have the off night defensively and&nbsp;score 8 points in the same outing.
To Bridges' credit, he completely flipped the script in Game 5. His defense was otherworldly: insane screen navigation, timely help, strong contests and 5 stocks (4 blocks and a steal) to boot. NBA.com's tracking data had Ingram and McCollum shooting a combined 2 of 15 &mdash; 2 of freakin' 15! &mdash; when defended by Bridges.&nbsp;
But then, there was the offense. A playoff career-high 31 points while knocking down all four of his threes, and converting 8 of 13 (61.5%) shots inside the arc.
That kind of two-way dominance is impressive enough, but doing so while playing all but [checks notes] one minute and six seconds is phenomenal stuff. There are players with the "iron man" tag, and then there's Mikal Bridges. Dude doesn't miss games &mdash; no, he literally hasn't missed one in his career &mdash; and can scale up the minutes when necessary.
Baller.&nbsp;
The scoring from Bridges was fun to track because the Pelicans clearly couldn't track him. There were on-ball reps sprinkled in from Bridges, and you'll see some clips of them, but Tuesday night's showing was a masterclass in staying light on your feet &mdash; reading the floor, moving with your teammates and sliding into spaces that defenders have either vacated or simply can't get to.
He was a moving target.
Take Bridges' second bucket for example.&nbsp;
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Bridges has been doing that all year &mdash; listen to <a href="https://twitter.com/stevejones20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Jones Jr.</a>, and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-dunker-spot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listen to The Dunker Spot</a>, folks.
After forcing a miss, the ball finds Aaron Holiday, who pushes down the right side of the floor and is tasked with attacking or setting up an early offense look. Bridges steps up for a screen, then slips that sucker. McCollum does his best to rotate down from the opposite corner, but there's only so much he can do with the size difference.
In the half-court, Bridges is one of the NBA's deadliest players from the corner. He's a darn good shooter &mdash; he's converted roughly 42% of his corner threes over the past three seasons &mdash; but he's also an instinctual mover. 
He knows when to slide down into the corner to stress a help defender, like here:
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Herb Jones is one of the best defenders in the sport already. The Pelicans trust him with tough on-ball assignments, but he's also a menace off the ball. His combination of length and awareness allows him to be two places at once sometimes. Bridges burns him here, though, sliding deeper into the corner at the same time that Jones provides help on the drive.
Bridges can also backdoor you if your attention is elsewhere. Ingram found that out the hard way.
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And then, there are the lifts from the corner. It's a weapon to complement a pick-and-roll when Bridges is isolated on a side. In theory, that puts his defender in a pick-your-poison situation: Do I tag the roller and leave Bridges open for a shot, or do I stay home and allow the big man to rumble into an open lane?
It's a tough choice, and Bridges compounds that with his growing ability to create off the bounce. You're not guaranteed to shut him down if you take away a three-point opportunity anymore.&nbsp;
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Bridges is isolated on the right side, putting Ingram in that pick-your-poison spot. But with Paul snaking the screen, Bridges stays home. Jones does a great job of sticking with Paul and forcing the retreat, but there's Bridges running into a handoff and flowing right into an elbow middy.
If that isn't annoying enough to account for, Bridges can also lift to the wing&nbsp;then&nbsp;backdoor you when necessary.&nbsp;
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That's a fun cat-and-mouse game between Paul, Jose Alvarado, and Larry Nance Jr. to kick things off. But look at the strain Bridges puts on Ingram.
Bridges lifts to the right wing around the same time that Deandre Ayton slips to the free throw area. Then, he begins his cut as soon as Ayton catches the ball.
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Ingram thinks Bridges is still at the wing, so he jumps towards that area when Ayton begins to survey the floor. Bridges is... not in that area anymore.
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I'm cracking up, man.
There may not be 31 points for Bridges every night, but it also doesn't have to be that way. His level of activity and aggression was a much-needed boost to the Suns' offense. They'll need it in Game 6 and beyond.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the career night of Mikal Bridges for the Suns in Game 5.

Mikal Bridges is the Suns' moving target

The Chicago Bulls won&rsquo;t have guards Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso available Wednesday night when they try to keep their season alive in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series with the Milwaukee Bucks.
LaVine is in the NBA&rsquo;s health and safety protocols while Caruso is in concussion protocols. <a href="https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1519310326818353154">The Bulls announced Wednesday that neither would play in Game 5.</a>
Both of them had started each of the first four games in this series.
The defending champion <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-milwaukee-bucks-chicago-bulls-golden-state-warriors-nba-7575804a27f922408b45e5bba37f235e">Bucks have a 3-1 lead</a> in the best-of-seven series after winning two lopsided games in Chicago. Milwaukee won <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-giannis-antetokounmpo-e85af189d20ce591f1292db6c797e6ff">111-81 in Game 3</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/milwaukee-bucks-chicago-bulls-covid-nba-sports-b945fff713ed072974032bac3cf7bff8">119-95 in Game 4.</a>
LaVine, who earned his second All-Star selection this season, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-billy-donovan-37770becc7bfe4b8e59606b56639a7fd"> entered the health and safety protocols </a> on Tuesday. This marks his third time in the protocols; he tested positive for the coronavirus in April 2021 and again in December.
The Bulls have a 9-6 record in games LaVine has missed this season. He has averaged 19.3 points, 6 assists and 5.3 rebounds in this series.
Caruso left Game 4 after taking an inadvertent hit to the face from Bucks guard Jevon Carter. He has averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 assists in this series, and he earned praise for his defense when the Bulls split the first two games in Milwaukee.
The Bulls also are missing guard <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-nba-sports-lonzo-ball-billy-donovan-4ac9b3666c5825227884667633576587">Lonzo Ball, </a> who suffered a season-ending knee injury in January. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-46750c79bbe5ebbd7da9e84e81d3ef86">The Bucks are missing three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton </a> due to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and reserve guard <a href="https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bulls-milwaukee-bucks-nba-sports-george-hill-2ef0b248777b226a9c413a43af717f5a"> George Hill</a> because of an abdominal strain.

Zach LaVine is in the NBA’s health and safety protocols while Alex Caruso is in concussion protocols.

Bulls rule out LaVine, Caruso for Game 5 in Milwaukee

It's hard to boil down four games to a single possession, but if you wanted to tell the story of the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks' series &mdash; one in which the Heat are a win away from a gentleman's sweep &mdash; look no further than a late-second ]-quarter stretch from Game 4.
It starts with PJ Tucker picking up Trae Young from the inbound. Clint Capela steps up to set a screen from the logo &mdash; generally a good thing during the Young Era, but in this case, it simply brings Bam Adebayo into the frame.&nbsp;
Young doesn't want that &mdash; Adebayo has switched onto him 16 times in this series; Young has passed out of the matchup 11 times per Second Spectrum. Naturally, Trae calls for another screen to loosen things up.
But this one brings Jimmy Butler into the mix.
Young attempts to attack Butler, but doesn't have much success. Not only does Butler do a great job of bodying him up, Adebayo is chilling at the nail, ready to pounce if the handle gets loose.
With Adebayo dropping down to the nail, the kick-out to Bogdan Bogdanovic is technically there. Young kicks it to Bogdanovic, but Adebayo recovers and stifles his&nbsp;drive. Similar to the help he provided to Butler, Max Strus does the same. Bogdanovic then kicks it to Kevin Huerter with the shot clock winding down. Forced to make lemonade out of lemons, he drives against Strus.
But Tucker is there to help. And Butler's there to help behind Tucker, capping the possession with a steal.
If that was exhausting to read, imagine being tasked with generating good offense against that kind of pressure. Just look at this, man.
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Young hasn't been having a good time in this series. He's averaging 16.5 points on 48.8% True Shooting. He has as many assists (24) as he does turnovers. A 21.2% clip from three is well below his level, and that's exacerbated by the fact that he's attempted more threes (33) than two-pointers (24).
It's hard to overstate just how much the Heat have thrown Young out of rhythm. One of the deadliest pick-and-roll threats in the league has been neutralized through four contests.&nbsp;
The Hawks are generating a shade under 0.93 points per possession (PPP) on trips featuring a Young pick-and-roll, per Second Spectrum. This may shock you, but this, too, is well below Young's regular season mark (1.06 PPP).
Young's Game 4 was even worse. His overall stat line was bad enough: 9 points (3 of 10 from three, 0 of 1 from two), 5 assists, and 5 turnovers in 35 minutes.&nbsp;
When <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5QpqLSz4_Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked about his three-heavy diet</a> in Game 4, Young gave props to the Heat's pressure and activity.&nbsp;
"If you're watching the game, you'll see that they have five people in the paint when I have the ball," Young stated.&nbsp;
"They're doing a great job of showing help and not letting me get into the paint. If I try to drive by somebody, they're sending a double and forcing me to kick it to my teammates."
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Look strictly at the pick-and-roll possessions, and things get murkier.
I promise this isn't a typo &mdash; the Hawks mustered 0.43 PPP on Young-led ball screens in Game 4. That's the worst mark of the series for Young, the worst mark of the season for Young and the worst mark since Young's rookie campaign in 2018.
Considering the stakes, the experience and the talent around him (much more than his rookie season), you could reasonably argue that Game 4 was the worst pick-and-roll game of Young's NBA career.
Miami's switching took away early gaps, as it has been all series long. Of the 246 picks Young has received this series, the Heat have switched 97 of them (39.4%). Even beyond the switching, Young has seen a revolving door of point-of-attack defenders. Seven different players have defended Young for at least 15 possessions in the series, per <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1629027/head-to-head?SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;Matchup=Offense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA.com tracking data</a>.&nbsp;
The Heat's help made it nearly impossible to get into the paint. And when forcing kick-outs, Young's teammates failed to deliver; the Hawks' "others" shot just <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1629027/passes-dash?DateFrom=04/24/2022&amp;PerMode=Totals&amp;SeasonType=Playoffs&amp;dir=D&amp;sort=FGA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">42.9% off of Young passes</a> in Game 4. It was a hodgepodge of factors that led to an 86-point outing for Atlanta.
Even Young has been a bit surprised by what he's seen so far.&nbsp;
"I haven't been guarded like this... consistently since high school, and obviously it's a lot better competition," Young said. "It's hard for me to score a lot through the double-teams and face-guards at this level. It's a challenge for me... I gotta learn to fight through it and make it easier for myself and my teammates."
Answers will need to come soon, or this series will likely end on Tuesday.
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Nekias Duncan breaks down the way Miami's defense has flustered Trae Young.