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Over the next few weeks, Jordan Kahn will be providing video breakdowns of key sets and plays from many of the playoff games. Check out previous entires here. Find more from Jordan at Basketball Things and follow him on Twitter @AyoitsJordan.
The Magic were able to fight their way back from a 20-point fourth quarter deficit against the Pacers, and Orlando’s efficient out-of-bounds playcalling nearly stole the game in the final moments. Let’s take a look at some of these plays and how Indiana eventually stopped them.
Down by three with under a minute remaining in regulation, the Magic were able to take advantage of Roy Hibbert on a baseline out of bounds play. J.J. Redick starts by running off of (moving?) screens from Hedo Turkoglu and Glen Davis. Davis’ screen knocks Paul George off balance and gives Redick the space for an open three. This may not have been so bad if Roy Hibbert wasn’t stationed in the lane the entire time. Because Hibbert is playing so far off of Davis, he is no position to help George on the screen. If Hibbert hedges a bit to deny the easy pass to Redick, George may have had a moment to recover. As it is, Redick gives a pump fake as George flies by and hits the open three to tie the game.
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On the next Indiana possession, the Pacers have the ball on a side out-of-bounds and use Roy Hibbert to initiate the offense. Davis does a great job pestering Hibbert as he tries to get the offense started. Hibbert misses two potential cutters thanks to Davis’ defense. After burning off 10 seconds, David West gets the ball poked away, leaving the Pacers up against the shot clock. George Hill is forced to take a deep three that misses the rim, leading to a shot clock violation. Davis starts the possession with intense defense and the rest of the team does a great job as well.
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In overtime, the Magic got another score off of a baseline out-of-bounds play. Because they don’t have Dwight Howard, capitalizing on these out-of-bounds plays can be a great way to swing the game. Here, Jameer Nelson runs off of a couple of screens, and George Hill takes himself out of the play by going for the steal from a trailing position. This forces Tyler Hansbrough to help, leaving Big Baby Davis alone to finish the play.
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With 2.2 seconds left, Orlando had a chance for a win or tie. On their first inbounds attempt, the Magic couldn’t get the ball inbounded. The Pacers switched on each exchange and stopped both J.J. Redick and Jason Richardson from receiving the ball. Orlando was forced to call a timeout and Stan Van Gundy adjusted his strategy.
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After the timeout, Davis replaces Richardson and Orlando runs a similar looking play, screening for Redick as he runs toward the inbounder. This time, however, Davis slips the screen and tries to catch the Pacer defense in between switches. Van Gundy anticipated the Pacers’ “switch everything” defense, but Paul George anticipated the slip screen. Davis makes the catch with George on his back and is forced to take a fadeaway jumper. Considering the circumstances, it’s not a bad look, but George may be at a height and wingspan advantage over Davis, so it is hardly a mismatch. Perhaps if Orlando could have engineered a screen between Davis and Nelson/Redick, Big Baby would have had a much smaller defender and a better look at the basket. Video of the full play is below.
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Indiana gave up a few easy baskets on set plays and nearly gave the game away. They finally stopped the Magic when it mattered, despite some high quality scheming from Stan Van Gundy.
