Last night, the Toronto Raptors needed overtime to secure a victory over the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. But they almost took home the win in regulation, running a great sideline out out bounds play that ended up with a Kyle Lowry attempt falling just short. In fact, the play might look familiar, because it’s almost exactly the same play the Bucks ran to free up Brandon Knight for game-tying three a few weeks ago. So, let’s take a closer look at how the Raptors version worked.
First, we see them lined up in this sort of haphazard formation, with Greivis Vasquez inbounding the ball.
As the play breaks, Lou Williams and Terrence Ross begin to cut in order to create spacing. Williams starts to move to the opposite corner, while Ross comes to the strong side corner. At the same time, Kyle Lowry runs towards the top of the key, away from the ball.
As soon as Lowry passes Amir Johnson, he plants, then sprints back towards the ball. Meanwhile, Johnson pivots and sets a screen on Jose Calderon, effectively removing him from the play. As this is happening, Williams and Ross are continuing their cuts to their respective corners.
With Calderon wiped out by the screen, Lowry is able to receive the inbounds pass from Vasquez with no problem. And since Sam Dalembert, who was guarding Amir Johnson, was sitting back in the lane, Lowry has plenty of room to operate. Instead of pulling up for a jumper, however, Lowry tries to get into the lane.
Dalembert, who was already sunk down into the paint, does a good job of cutting off a direct path to the basket, and forces Lowry into a tough, off-balance jumper that falls short.
Despite the shot not falling for Lowry, the play still worked well, as he was wide open when he received the pass, which is as much as you can ask for in a late game situation. Plus, it was interesting to see the Raptors steal an out of bounds play from the Bucks. If one team has success with a play or an action, there’s no doubt someone else in the league will try it out for themselves. It will be interesting to see if this look finds its way into other team’s arsenals throughout the season.
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