Hardwood Highlight of the Night: Williams, Raptors take advantage of transition chaos
Chaos on the basketball court can make one team while it breaks another, depending on which end of the possession each team falls.
During a third quarter run that cut the Memphis Grizzlies' lead from 10 to one, the Toronto Raptors found themselves the beneficiaries of a couple chaotic episodes.
That chaos began with the Raptors' defense forcing turnovers, and ended with them attacking in transition. One such play saw Raptors reserve Lou Williams finish with three points, courtesy of a made field goal and a foul on Grizzlies big man Zach Randolph.
Here's a step-by-step look at how the chaos unfolded and created an advantage for the Raptors.
First, Amir Johnson defends Randolph well and pressures Z-Bo into a turnover, which Lou Williams picks up. This is the last image with all 10 players still on the same end of the court, before the chaos begins.
Williams eventually pitches the ball ahead to Kyle Lowry, and Lowry makes the sound decision to drive down the middle of the floor with the Grizzlies on their heels.
DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Patterson head wide for the corners, and the three Grizzlies catching up on the play have to make split-second decisions about who to chase. You can see Marc Gasol pointing for someone to find DeRozan in the right corner.
Lowry ends up kicking it to Patterson in the left corner, and Vince Carter rushes to him in hopes of avoiding the dreaded corner-three.
Recognizing that, Patterson finds Lou Williams trailing the play.
By then, Williams is the only Raptor unaccounted for, and Randolph is the only Grizzly yet to re-enter the fray. Randolph has to scramble to get to Williams, and though it appears the Raptors guard has an open look for three above, Williams senses an out-of-control big man bearing down on him.
He takes advantage of the chaos, and the mismatch, to draw contact from Randolph on the off-balance jumper, which finds a way to fall in typical Williams fashion.
Chaos. It's a beautiful thing when your team ends up with three points out of an exciting, transition bucket. It's equally as exhausting and deflating when you're on the other end of the hoop and the harm.
(Courtesy: TSN)