To me the most infuriating possession was when Jaylen dribbled out the clock and took that terrible 3 with 36 seconds to go. But, I’m telling myself they were playing the 2 for one game. I don’t necessarily agree with that but if you are, you’ll want to shoot towards the end of the shot clock. At least that may explain that head scratching possession.
I don't think they were trying to game the clock... not entirely anyway.
It's hard to know the intent of the play as a casual viewer, but from my perspective, it looked like the ball was supposed to go to KP after an initial pin-down screen by JT at 10 seconds on the shot clock, with KP's options then being an entry pass to Tatum on Capela or a jumpshot over a much smaller defender in Matthews. JB didn't make the pass, perhaps afraid that Matthews would pick it off (looked pretty open though, I say from my couch), so they ad-libbed to a JB/KP pick-and-roll that generated no advantage and resulted in a panic shot. Either way, I don't think it was clock management that got us in trouble. Rather, poor execution and a good defensive possession by Wes Matthews in particular.
Hindsight being 20/20, JB probably has a better chance at dusting Hunter (his initial defender before the Hawks switched on KP's screen) off the bounce than Matthews. The pick put him in a worse position than he was in to start with, so I wonder if it would have made more sense for him to iso Hunter as soon as he declined the pass to KP instead of waiting for a pointless pick.
Just my interpretation.
EDIT TO ADD:
Here's the play in question, decide for yourselves.
https://twitter.com/ChrisForsberg_/status/1772451271892410669
Topic: Celtics (57-14) at Hawks (31-39) Game #72 3/25/24 (Read 9492 times)