# The play that sparked the comeback



## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

> Looking for a spark (and for points) late in the 4th quarter, the Dallas Mavericks were searching for a play that would work against Miami’s tough/quick defense. At some point towards the end of the game, coach Rick Carlisle started running a staggered pick and roll with Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler as the screener, a play that the Mavericks haven’t run at all during the Finals to this point. It was obvious that this play gave Miami trouble as Dallas scored 8 points on the 4 possessions they ran it while shooting 75% (including 2-2 from three). Here is the play that sparked Dallas’ comeback:
> 
> http://nbaplaybook.com/2011/06/03/the-play-that-sparked-dallas-comeback/


Great stuff and easy to understand.


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## sMaK (Jun 13, 2002)

Yeah, that pick and roll was kicking our ass. Tyson found his inner KG in some of those, though. Especially the Dirk 3, he threw a football block.


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## kbdullah (Jul 8, 2010)

When I clicked in this thread I expected yet another article about hand pounds and celebrations, so a pleasant surprise to see an in-depth X and O analysis. 

I'm going to reiterate that the Mavericks running legitimate offensive sets late in the 4th when other teams run isolations is what differentiates them. That's why they've had such a high rate of fourth quarter comebacks.


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## edwardcyh (Dec 13, 2005)

Now that croco brought it up, I just realized that DAL hasn't used this "staggered PNR" in the series until the comeback!

On the local radio and other mavs resources, they call it "double PNR," and it's been very successful for the mavs because there are so many outside scoring threats. When Dirk gets involved in this type of PNR, opponents literally get all bunched together and can't figure out who to guard.

Great point croco! I hadn't realized it until now. KUDOS!


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