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There was a lot to digest after Game 2 of the Warriors-Trail Blazers playoff series Thursday night. So much, you might have overlooked the game’s most interesting play.
It came in the final seconds with the Warriors leading by three points. Andre Iguodala stole the ball from Portland’s Damian Lillard. Aware that the Blazers would be looking to commit a (futile) foul, Iguodala rushed to get the ball to Stephen Curry, the NBA’s most accurate free throw shooter ever. Curry received the ball with approximately 2.1 seconds left.
He wanted no part of free throws. He knows they stop the game. They can lead to unintended situations. Curry wished the game to be over as quickly as possible. So with approximately 1.1 seconds on the clock he released a soaring … shot? “Curry from half court,” said play-by-play man Mike Breen on the ESPN telecast. But it wasn’t a shot. A pass? It wasn’t exactly that, either. By the time it came down, the semantics were moot. The game was over.
Brilliant improvisation, right? Just what you’d expect from a cool head such as Curry. Makes you wonder why more players don’t do that.
You might want to talk to another cool-headed, spectacular point guard. Goes by the name of Magic.
In the 1991 postseason, Magic Johnson and the Lakers met — hey, what a coincidence! — the Portland Trail Blazers in the conference finals. Game 6 came down to the final seconds. With Michael Jordan and the Bulls sitting in their E-Z chairs in Chicago, having already punched their ticket to the NBA Finals, Magic and his buddies were desperate to extricate themselves from the Blazers. They were close — the Lakers led 91-90 with less than five seconds to play.
Portland’s Terry Porter launched a 17-footer. It caromed to Johnson near the baseline with 3.0 seconds remaining. Magic, like Curry, decided to try the hidden ball trick. He flung the ball backward over his head. It bounced its merry way down the court and out of bounds. But it didn’t kill the clock. There was 0.1 seconds left. (“You talk about the brilliance of Magic,” gushed play-by-play man Dick Enberg.)
It left Portland with a million-to-1 shot. Alas, the Blazers’ 94-foot lob pass didn’t click.
Then there was the March 2007 regular season game between Toronto and Washington, a game with playoff implications. With 3.8 seconds left, the Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas sunk two free throws to give his team a three-point lead. Toronto needed to move nearly the length of the floor. The Raptors’ Anthony Parker launched the basketball version of a Hail Mary.
Washington’s Michael Ruffin knocked the pass down, then endeavored to heave it into lithosphere where it would kill the clock before returning safely to the earth. But Ruffin was pretty casual with his heave. The ball squirted about 10 feet up and landed in the capable hands of Toronto’s Morris Peterson, who drilled a 3-pointer as time ran out. The Raptors won in overtime.
The real star of this bit of vaudeville is Raptors broadcaster Chuck Swirsky. You have to experience it to appreciate it.
Onions, baby, onions, to one and all.
