NBA Playbook takes an extended look at the play that finally got to the Heat’s scrambling defense in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s Game 2 win by Dallas.
The set can probably be boiled down as a staggered screen to offset Miami’s trapping and generally suffocating defense.
As Jason Terry brings the basketball along the wing, Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler get in position and set a staggered ball screen for Terry (with Nowitzki as the front screener and Chandler as the second screener).
What this staggered screen for Jason Terry is that it negates the Heat’s hard trap/hedge on the ball handler, especially on this first position, where the Heat seemed to look a little confused.
The post looks at different things the Mavericks did from the set, but the concept was fairly straightforward. Whether or not the Heat adjust to this particular scheme – and they probably will – one of the keys to this series appears to be Dallas’ ability to offset Miami’s smothering style of defense.