One second in a 48-minute game shouldn’t mean much for the big picture. Yet, it was hard to deny the final tick of the third quarter was a pivotal turning point as the Celtics failed their test against one of the NBA’s best on Monday night, a 114-105 defeat to the Nuggets.
Brad Stevens is known for his ATO magic, but he got a little too cute for his own good at the end of the third quarter as the Celtics hung onto an 80-78 lead after Torey Craig drained a corner 3 (thanks to a late closeout from Jayson Tatum). The situation — 1.1 seconds remaining while inbounding the ball under one's own basket — was comparable to a football team getting the ball at their own 20 with time for one more play to run before halftime. A Hail Mary could produce points once in a while, but the odds are that if you try it, it would produce more harm than good in the long run, which is why teams opt for the kneel down nearly 100 percent of the time in that spot.
Stevens had a timeout that he was going to lose though and he wanted to get creative. Instead, he watched as Marcus Morris threw the ball out of bounds on the fly, opening the door for another Nuggets possession. Morris probably shouldn’t have thrown the ball down court, to begin with (Brown had a tough defender in Paul Millsap on him), but Stevens created the opportunity for that mess with the timeout.
I'm sorry what? You do this and then give up a bucket to end the quarter? I am almost certain this is not what Brad said in the timeout pic.twitter.com/hEsrjr6y2x
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) March 19, 2019