Explain One Play: Curry & Green two-for-one closes out the series

Check the glossary for unfamiliar terms!

The Warriors came out with a huge uppercut in the first quarter jumping out to a twenty point lead, but the Jazz did not fold. They chipped away and took advantage of a horrible 2nd quarter by the second unit to hover around a 6 to 8 point deficit through the 3rd. The crowd seemed ready to explode if the Jazz could just get over the hump and get it to within one possession.

Instead, the Warriors ended the third quarter with a stunning two-for-one to turn a tight 8 point lead into a comfortable 14 point lead in 43 seconds of game clock.

(A two-for-one happens at the end of a quarter when a team tries to shoot with around 30 seconds left, ensuring that the opponents will be forced to shoot the ball with more than 6 seconds left, giving the team a second shot to end the quarter.)

The first play have Draymond Green setting a high pick for Stephen Curry. This forces Derrick Favors to step out and switch onto Curry. Green clears out and Dante Exum actually follows him.

Favors is a talented big he came back quickly from a left knee injury and probably isn’t a full speed. So Curry toys with Favors for a while...

...until side-stepping into an open 3. This year, Curry has been working on shooting when the defender has his hands down, even when the defender is close, and this was another example.

After the W’s get a stop, they now have ten seconds for the “two”. This ends up being the same play with Curry getting a high pick from Green. This time, the Jazz defend it differently. Instead of leaving Favors out on an island with Curry, Dante Exum jumps out to double team Curry. Curry passes out of the double team, the correct play as there should now be a 4-on-3 away from the double team.

We’ve seen Green run the 4-on-3 many times (compare this old E1P), but I’ve never seen it defended like this.

First, Exum does a nice job of hauling butt out of the double team back to Green. Second, TWO Jazz players blitz Green at the top of the key. This is normally a terrible idea, because it leaves three Jazzmen blitzing Green and THREE Warriors completely open. We have Matt Barnes on the right wing for an open three, Shaun Livingston under the basket for a dunk, and Andre Iguodala on the left wing for an open three.

How could the Jazz be so irresponsible? They know there are three seconds on the shot clock and they haven’t been blitzing the roll man, so they are counting on Green to panic under the surprise and time pressure. Instead, he actually manages to jump to pass to Livingston under the basket, and then see that Joe Johnson is helping on Livingston so he changes IN MID-JUMP, to redirect to Iguodala on the left wing. Swish, and the Jazz never make a push after that.

The game tweets

BTW this play was a request:

And, I’ve pinned this tweet to my profile:

Explain One Play Glossary

Basic Terms

• pick (or screen): To stand in the way of a defender.
• pop: After setting a pick, run to open space, ready to catch a pass to shoot.
• roll: After setting a pick, run towards the basket
• slip (the screen): Begin to set a pick, but roll or pop early
• drive: move towards the basket with the ball
• cut: move without the ball
• dive: cut to the basket
• kick out: pass to the perimeter from the paint.

Kinds of Screens

• back: screen for a player to cut to the basket
• down: screen for a player cutting away from the baseline
• flare: screen for a player to pop out for a jumper.
• ram (pre-screen): screen for a player who then sets a screen.
• dribble-pitch: dribble towards a player and hand the ball off while setting a screen for them.
• drag: a high screen set early in offense as the screener arrives

Defense

• switch: When a defender is screened, they switch assignments to the screener, and the screener’s defender guards their previous assignment.
• trap/blitz/double: Two players closely guard one.
• goalie/shadow/overload: A secondary defender is positioned to backup a player’s primary defender.
• show, hedge: a screener’s defender jumps out to slow the ballhandler, then recovers to their assignment
• go over a screen: go around the screen on the side farther from the basket (so the ball is open to drive rather than shoot)
• go under a screen: go around the screen on the side closer to the basket (so the ball is open to shoot rather than drive)
• close out: get close to a shooter to intimidate the shot.

Locations

• high/low: Closer to the baseline is “low”, farther from the basket is “high”
• weak/strong side: The side of the court with the ball is the strong side, the other side is the weak side.

http://www.coachesclipboard.net

Plays

• Floppy: Ball at the top, a screen is set at each side of the lane, 1+ shooters starts under basket and curl around a screen. More.
• HORNS: Two bigs at elbows, two smalls at corners, ball up high. More.
• High HORNS: Like HORNS, but two bigs set screens above the free throw circle.
• Motion Strong pick-and-roll: Ball goes from right to the top. The top dribble-pitches away to the left, then backtracks quickly cross-court to screen for the original handler. (example)
• Motion Weak Zipper: Explain One Play: Durant and Thompson (finally) execute to close out Blazers
• Split cuts, dive-pop: Passer holds ball in post or up high. Two players converge, then one pops out to the arc, one dives to the basket.

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If you want to read more video breakdowns — one for well-nigh every Warriors’ win since 2015 — check out the Explain One Play Mega-Index, searchable and sortable by player, play, team and date.