NBA Season Preview: 5 creative sets you need to know

1. Pistol Slip

“Pistol” is a common offense in the NBA when teams are looking to score quickly in the half court, and it works well for the Warriors because they have a number of playmakers and knockdown shooters on their roster. In this particular option, they have one of their bigs set a brush screen on Thompson around the perimeter and then slip to the basket for a layup.

The Warriors have the luxury of playing 5-out most of the time — just imagine a lineup of Curry, Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Durant and Green on the court — so the defense has to basically decide between giving up a three-pointer to one of the greatest shooters in the world or letting someone like Green or Durant cut backdoor for a dunk.

With more teams looking to play small in order to maximize spacing, it’s a smart way to get the defense moving and force them into making that tough do-we-help-or-do-we-not decision.