LeBron James caught many off-guard with an odd play he made before halftime of Monday night’s game between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Clippers that actually was a smart strategic move.
The Lakers were down 59-57 with 31.2 seconds to go before the half. Rather than pick the ball up following an inbounds pass, James decided to let the ball roll nearly the length of the court:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/d9C1PYtxaL
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 5, 2019
The clock only starts once a player touches the ball, so by letting it roll so far, James saved time. What he was trying to do was go 2-for-1 — give the Lakers two possessions within the 31.2 seconds and only one for the Clippers. Had he he taken more than seven seconds on the possession, the Clippers could have milked the 24-second shot clock all the way down to the get the last shot of the half.
Of course, LeBron missed his shot and turned the ball over on the second possession, so things didn’t work out, but the strategy was sound.
