How about that play? With twenty seconds left, and the Pistons up by four, the Celtics really really needed to force a turnover, or, failing that, to foul.
Detroit was inbounding under its own basket after a timeout. And ... how did that happen?
Nice play, Flip Saunders.
As the X's and O's of basketball blog there's a breakdown of the Double Stagger Curl that led to the hoop. Accompanying video and diagrams make clear the key was that Celtics Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were pretty darned worried about Rip Hamilton, who was liable to spring open for a 3 if either Pierce or Garnett stayed with Billups.
Rip Hamilton comes off his screen to the 3-point line.
This is important because it forces Kevin Garnett to make a decision. Should he switch to cover Chauncey curling off the double stagger? Or switch to cover Rip on the 3-point line? And he has to make the decision in a split second.
My philosophy would've been to protect the paint first, so obviously KG made the wrong decision if we use that philosophy. But you could make the case that leaving Rip (who was the leading scorer for the Pistons in the game) open for the 3-pointer would've been wrong.
In the end, Chauncey Billups got an uncontested layup. Six-point Detroit lead. Trouble in Boston.
