Unless Dennis Schroder is really, really focused on the Hawks being in position to take Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic, or Marvin Bagley III in June’s NBA Draft, the way he handled the final possession of Tuesday night’s Hawks-Suns game made very little sense.
And, seeing as how Schroder is just about the only guy on the Hawks (an NBA-worst 10-27) putting together a very good season, we should assume he wasn’t intentionally trying to make a dumb play with the game on the line.
The Hawks trailed the Suns 104-101 with 6.5 seconds left, and Schroder inexplicably took the ball to the basket for a layup with 00.9 seconds left. A layup is worth two points. The Hawks needed three points.
The reaction of Hawks forward Tyler Cavanaugh on this play (No. 34) says it all:
Sometimes it can be beneficial to just take the easy two and extend the game when down three+ points… but not when there is just about no time left on the clock. Maybe you could draw a foul, but the defense is usually going to let you take the two points. And even if you are fouled, it’s hard to convert the and-one. Schroder — or one of his teammates — had to shoot a three here.
Oh, and the Suns were also favored by 1 to 2 points depending on the sportsbook, so that play resulted in a loss for some people that bet on the Suns as well.
https://twitter.com/DanaB_Number3/status/948411399134437378
Then again, it was insane the Suns had even taken the lead at all. The Hawks had a 10-point lead with two and a half minutes remaining, and had gone 400-0 over the last 20 seasons when leading by at least 10 with under three minutes left.
Over the last 20 seasons, the Hawks were 400-0 when leading by at least 10 in the final 3 minutes of the game entering Tuesday.
They lost to the Suns under such circumstances tonight
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 3, 2018
[Photo & Video Credit: Fox Sports Arizona]