Whose clutch block was better: Tristan Thompson or Avery Bradley?
A pair of games with playoff implications came down to the final minute on Monday night, turning in the closing 24 seconds on huge, game-saving blocks.
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First up: After giving up five straight points to trail the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-94 lead with 34.9 seconds left on the clock, the Indiana Pacers needed a bucket badly. Unfortunately, they’d find their path to getting one impeded first by LeBron James and then, ultimately, by Tristan Thompson:
After James got his hand on rookie Myles Turner’s inbounds pass to Paul George, Monta Ellis corralled the loose ball on the sideline and began to try to attack. The swarming Cavaliers did their best to make Indiana frantic with the ball, closing out hard and forcing Ellis and George Hill to stutter-step and pump-fake their way through the motions despite having time plenty of time to work. Things finally did settle down when Ellis kicked back to Hill at the top of the arc with Dellavedova a bit overeager to push up defensively and 11 seconds left on the shot clock.
Hill drove left past the closeout, pressed through Kyrie Irving’s dig-down from the wing, gained the lane and lofted up a lefty layup … only to see it sent the other way by the 6-foot-9-inch Thompson, who soared over from the weak side to snuff out Indiana’s chance at getting level. The Pacers, seemingly stunned by the swat, failed to remember that they were trailing by two points with less than 20 seconds remaining and needed to foul somebody in white, wine and gold. Frank Vogel’s players allowed the Cavs to rag the clock all the way down to 8.9 seconds remaining before Turner fouled Irving. Kyrie made all four of his freebies down the stretch, and Cleveland wiped clean the taste of Sunday’s LeBron-less loss with a 100-96 win.
While James (33 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals) and Irving (17 of his 22 points after halftime) carried the load offensively, it was Thompson who did the bulk of the yeoman’s work late. After Cavs coach Tyronn Lue reinserted Timofey Mozgov into the starting lineup, sending Thompson back to the bench after 16 straight starts, Thompson earned his way onto the court to close the game out with the brand of energy, effort and athleticism that (along with a certain Kingly co-sign and some “don’t break up a title contender” leverage) got him $80 million this summer.
Thompson scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had that one critical block in the fourth quarter alone, making the go-ahead basket off a James feed on the possession before he erased Hill’s shot:
Pacers star Paul George — who’s been no friend of the refs this year, and who also saw a 3-pointer waved off after a replay review determined that his shot had come after the shot clock had expired, cutting a four-point lead down to one unexpectedly — didn’t appreciate the officials giving LeBron the benefit of the doubt on that drive-and-bump of Rodney Stuckey. But they did, and Thompson made them pay, on both ends, to seal the deal.
Thompson wasn’t alone in the last-line-of-defense business on Monday. After yet another big Jae Crowder 3-pointer off a pass from Isaiah Thomas — this is getting to be a pretty regular occurrence — the Boston Celtics held a 96-95 lead over the visiting Utah Jazz, and needed one more stop to walk away with an 11th straight win in the friendly confines of TD Garden.
Quin Snyder called Gordon Hayward’s number. Brad Stevens called Avery Bradley’s. Despite giving away six inches and about 45 pounds, Bradley had what it took to get the job done:
Hayward tried to use his size to back Bradley down, but Bradley stayed with him as he rocked right, pivoted back to his left, turned and elevated for the fadeaway, getting all ball at the top of his jump and sending the shot right back into Hayward’s midsection before it bounced over to Crowder. The Jazz would foul Bradley, who made the first but missed his second, only to see teammate Amir Johnson beast for an offensive rebound that gave Boston back the ball with another chance to extend the lead:
If that looks familiar to you, it’s probably because you were watching a young Bradley do something very similar to Dwyane Wade back nearly four years ago:
Boston would hold on for a 100-95 win that improved the Celtics to 36-25, giving them a two-game edge over the idle Miami Heat for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference. Bradley finished with 18 points, two rebounds, one steal and one block in 37 1/2 minutes of play, and earned praise from both locker rooms for his work on that pivotal possession:
I’m not totally sure about that last one — there’s a reigning Defensive Player of the Year in San Antonio who might have something to say about it — but I’m also not especially inclined to argue on this night, after this play.
But then, maybe you are. Do you think Thompson’s swat topped Bradley’s, or do you think the little guy’s rejection was more impressive than the big guy’s? Here, through the magic of Internet democracy, is your opportunity to let us know. Cast your ballot in the poll below. It’s Super Tuesday somewhere, after all!
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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