NBA Playoffs: In Defense of Metta World Peace and Sound Basketball Decisions

With a Game 2 victory on the line, the Los Angeles Lakers went to Steve Blake for a three on their final possession. He missed. Hysteria ensued on the Internet, where the general consensus seemed to be that the Lakers goofed up by not going to Kobe Bryant for the final shot.

Something similar happened after Game 2 in Miami Tuesday night, when the Heat drew up a play for Mario Chalmers—their best three-point shooter—rather than going to LeBron James or Dwyane Wade.

While we love hero ball and enjoy watching the NBA’s finest get the opportunity to save the day (or come up short), sometimes it’s about making the correct basketball play. Both of these games are examples of that.

In Miami, the Heat went to their best perimeter shooter. With the defense focusing in on James and Wade, this makes sense even if it’s not what we want to see.

In Oklahoma City, the Lakers had actually drawn up a play for Kobe Bryant to be open. Unfortunately, the inbounder had to make a cross-court pass to Bryant, over the outstretched arms of an athletic Thunder team.

Who did they have inbounding the ball? Metta World Peace, who had one of the worst inbounds passes that most of us have ever seen earlier this season.

Instead of passing to Bryant as the play had been designed, World Peace saw a wide-open Blake in the corner and went to him without hesitation. Seeing how open he was after Russell Westbrook fell asleep on defense, this wasn’t a mistake. Blake has hit several three-pointers to bail out his team this season, and he was wide open for a shot he’s capable of hitting. He just didn’t hit it.

It happens.

It’s a pretty simple story. We could talk about why the Lakers had World Peace inbounding the ball instead of someone taller, with more height and a better chance of passing the ball over OKC’s players, but World Peace’s decision to hit the wide open man with the pass? That’s a basketball play. 

Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies tweeted his thoughts on the final possession after the game:

Had Blake hit the shot, we would all be lambasting Westbrook for his missed defensive assignment and praising World Peace for recognizing it. Instead we’re looking for someone to blame.

Rather than heaping blame on someone for that final possession, how about looking at how the Lakers allowed Oklahoma City to roar back from seven down with two minutes remaining to retake control of the game and steal a 2-0 series lead?