Chris Paul passes to…Gary Neal? An attempt at analysis
Some fans were confused during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s LA Clippers-San Antonio Spurs game when Chris Paul set up Gary Neal for a game-tying score. Observant viewers may have noticed the play was unusual, given that Paul and Neal were on opposing teams.
The Clippers were winning by three with 9.5 seconds left. Inbounding the ball, all they had to do was catch it, wait to get fouled, hit some free throws, find some groupies and go celebrate the victory. Yet, as with many things in Clipperworld, it didn’t work out that way.
Ryan Gomes waited on the sideline to pass the ball in. Paul sped towards his own half. In the NBA an inbounds pass can be thrown into either the front or back court. However, once the ball is in the frontcourt, it can’t be taken back over the halfway line. Paul was aiming to catch the ball in the backcourt, giving him to more room to manoeuvre and possibly take vital seconds off the clock before he was fouled. But Gomes decided to pass as Paul reached the midcourt line. At full speed, Paul had to catch the pass, jump immediately and get rid of the ball or he would commit a backcourt violation. The ball went straight to Neal, who hit a game-tying three. The Spurs won in overtime.
But let’s rewind back to that fateful play, and pause with Paul in mid-air, while I attempt to answer some questions no one asked me:
The pass to Neal was perfect, did Paul think Neal was a team-mate?
No. That the ball went straight to Neal was an unfortunate coincidence. Even if Paul thought Neal was a Clipper, passing to him would’ve resulted in the same backcourt violation Paul was trying to avoid. Also, bear in mind that Paul has perhaps the best court vision of anyone in the league. The chances of him misreading the court are slim.
Was Paul trying to pass over Neal’s head to Caron Butler?
No, for the reason of backcourt violation mentioned above.
Okay then, you smart and handsome man, what did happen?
Paul caught the ball in a bad spot, and with all this momentum going the wrong way, couldn’t muster the strength to turn and throw the ball into the frontcourt. If Paul had thrown the ball anywhere else, or even managed to turn and look towards the Spurs’ basket, fans would recognise this for what it was: an unfortunate turnover. But the ball went to the worst possible place: the hands of the game’s best three-point shooter.
Paul’s one possible failing here was not throwing the ball out of bounds. If he hadn’t been trying to twist his body left, he could’ve lobbed the ball over the sideline to his right. If nothing else that would’ve taken time off the clock and given the Clippers a chance to set up their defence.
Chris Paul is a leader who knows he has to rely on his team-mates to have any chance of playoff success. That includes Gomes. So when asked about the error, Paul nobly accepted the blame, absolving Gomes of any responsibility.
After that game the Spurs and Clippers were respectively second and third in the Western Conference. If their records are similar come playoff time, remember this game and the one play that could’ve taken a win from the Spurs record and gifted it to LA. What a difference a game makes.
