Hey, you know when your favorite team is losing late and in the position where they need to intentionally miss a free throw to try and get a miraculous putback or tip-out rebound for a shot to win or keep the game going? You know, the thing that never, ever seems to work, and certainly not when your team is the team in that position?
Here’s what it’s supposed to look like. Down three with seconds remaining, Jayson Tatum misses on purpose (no easy feat; many of these instances are sunk before they begin when a shooter accidentally makes it, or misses the rim entirely), the ball is batted around, and, well:
JAYLEN BROWN!
OIJPIOSJDO{PKWD{PKDW pic.twitter.com/3YHMnXXuOd
— ESPN (@espn) March 1, 2020
That’s absolutely nuts. (Also, nice rebound, James.)
Credit Boston and Brad Stevens for going for this with five seconds on the clock; some coaches may have elected to just try and extend the game, even though a make there for Tatum would give Houston a chance to ice it with two makes of their own, or force Boston to go the length of the court with just a couple of seconds remaining.
In #Pacers locker room during this shot. Some guys convinced this is all Brad Stevens and he drew it up this way 😂 https://t.co/vUektt2j34
— J. Michael (@ThisIsJMichael) March 1, 2020
We are burying the lede though, because while this play did give the Celtics an improbable chance to win in overtime, the Rockets ended up on top 111-110.
The worst part: now that it worked for the Celtics, we’re probably not going to see it work again any time soon. And, most importantly, certainly not for your team.
