

I don't want to sound like a broken record and if I post any more about this I will be beating a dead horse, but here is a quick, side by side look at the play the Nuggets ran against both the Toronto Raptors on Monday and the Portland Trail Blazers with the game on the line.

In both cases, the Nuggets use the exact same spacing and setup. The 5 sets the screen for Ty Lawson at the top of the key. Darrell Arthur and Arron Afflalo are used as floor spacers and do no not move for the entire possession. Wilson Chandler is at the wing and used as a floor spacer and an outlet in case Ty doesn't get a good look.

On both occasions the action plays out the same way. Without any misdirection or off-ball movement, and with a less than ideal use of floor spacing, the defense is allowed to overplay Lawson on the drive and overplay Mozgov on the roll. In the Portland game, Ty's pass to Chandler was stolen. In the Toronto game, Ty's pass to Chandler makes it, but Chandler is still forced to make a 1 dribble move to get open. In both cases, Ty winds the clock down too late in the shot clock before calling for the screen. This is a common practice when the game clock and shot clock are only separated by a couple of seconds. However, better teams use motion and screens to get switches and/or provide misdirection so that the defense isn't "sitting on the play" when the pick and roll is finally initiated.