About This Play/Drill

Houston used this play in the 1st Round of the NBA Playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks for a Josh Smith to Dwight Howard lob. This simple Turn 4 set gives Smith good positioning for a post up, and the flare option for Trevor Ariza is always available to keep the defense honest. A 4-5 pick and roll is a difficult enough play to defend, but moving the screen down to the block confuses the coverages even more than usual. In this play the defense commited to the pick and roll too soon, and Howard spun out of the pick for a lob pass.