The Wizards did not defend Dennis Schröder, who was happy to let more than 20 seconds expire. Trailing by five seconds late in Sunday’s game against the Lakers, the Wizards let more than 20 seconds tick off the clock.
NBABy Michael Dixon on

Different people may be partial to different strategies when it comes to basketball. Here’s a strategy that won’t draw a lot of arguments. If you’re trailing in a game, you want to do everything possible to preserve time. At the very least, you want to make it difficult for your opponent to waste time. That strategy should be universal. The Washington Wizards, though, used a different strategy on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

With 3:12 remaining in the game, Daniel Gafford made a shot to cut Washington’s deficit to 111-106. At the 3:08 mark, the Lakers then inbounded the ball to Dennis Schröder, who took his time before touching it — something the Wizards apparently took no issue with.

For anyone who needs a refresher on the rules, inside of two minutes, the game clock stops after every made basket and doesn’t start again until the ball is touched inbounds. Until that point, it runs. The shot clock, however, never starts until the ball is touched in play. So, with less than two minutes remaining, this would have been a terrible play by the leading Lakers and a great one by the trailing Wizards. With more than two minutes left, it was the exact opposite.

Trailing by five points, it was in Washington’s best interest to defend Schröder, forcing him to pick the ball up. Instead, the Wizards let roughly the equivalent of a full, 24-second possession go before doing anything to force Schröder’s hand.

Basketball fans had a lot of fun with this play — much of it coming at Washington’s expense.

Amazingly, the Wizards managed to claw back and tie this game in the final minute anyway. The Lakers, though, still won. Thomas Bryant made a go-ahead dunk with just over seven seconds left and Kyle Kuzma missed a potential game-winner as time expired.

So, did this play cost Washington? It’s hard to say. But given that the Wizards lost such a close game, it’s pretty safe to assume that they wouldn’t have minded having those 24 seconds back.

[Rob Perez on Twitter, Photo Credit: Spectrum SportsNet]

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