Down by three with 6.4 seconds left, Frank Vogel drew up the highlight of his brief tenure as Lakers head coach. And his team’s execution is the reason why L.A. extended its win streak to four straight.
It started with Danny Green inbounding the ball to Avery Bradley, who immediately passed it along to LeBron James on the left wing of the 3-point arc.
From there, James flowed into a pick-and-roll with Anthony Davis — which Vogel knew would draw the eyes of the entire defense. From there, it was decision time for LeBron: pull up for a 3 or drive to the basket and let the action on the opposite end develop.
Dallas center Maxi Kleber rushed over to stop James’ dribble, and LBJ knew that meant the weak side was wide open.
Meanwhile, Green darted to the corner while Dwight Howard set a screen on his man: Seth Curry. This is known as a “hammer screen,” and it’s the exact action that Green thrived on in his early NBA career with San Antonio.
Curry tried to recover, but Green hit him with a mean pump-fake. A 50.5 percent corner 3-point shooter last season (third-best in the league), Green got a clean look on the last shot of regulation.
The result was a swish as the buzzer sounded. Once down by 15, the Lakers had forced overtime.
They then proceeded to dominate OT, with LeBron — who had 39 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds — finishing the job.
But to set the table, it took a world-class shot from a world-class shooter.