Z-Bo Can Break Down Your Defense

Marcel Mutoni over at Slam did a good enough write up about the heartbreaking work of staggering genius that was the LA Clippers’ final play in their loss to Cleveland last night that I have nothing more to add. Said play is featured at the end of this video, but if you understandably don’t feel like sitting through highlights of a Cavs/Clipps game (LeBron did at least drop a 32/13/11 triple double) or watching ads where T. Rowe Price tries to delude you into thinking they won’t lose all your money, the only thing you really need to know is that the final play of the game consisted of: (A) Zach Randolph receiving an inbounds pass outside the three-point line, (B) Zach Randolph taking two lazy dribbles away from hoop, and (C) Zach Randolph launching a pull-up, 30-foot, airball three-pointer with four seconds still left on the clock while the Clippers were down by two points.

If Mike Dunleavy was a better coach, of course, the play he called would have featured: (D) none of the above.

The main point though is that Marcel linked to the video below of a similar play from Z-Bo back in his Knick days, which, if you don’t remember, won Greatest Achievement in Basketball Playmaking at last year’s Academy Awards.

UPDATE: So I’ve  just been catching up on some Sports Guy columns/podcasts and it turns out he wrote a whole piece on this Clips/Cavs game. Here’s how he described Clipper Nation after Zach’s attempt at a game winner.

The fans are in disbelief. Randolph’s teammates are in disbelief. Dunleavy is making a face that my friend Sal later describes as “A face I have never seen a human being make before.” What ensued in the next 20 seconds could best be described like this: Imagine being trapped in one of those big hospital elevators with eight other people. One of them pulls his pants down and just starts going to the bathroom — not No. 1 but No. 2. At that specific moment, the doors open for the next floor. How fast would everyone else in the elevator flee for the door? Lightning-fast, right? Like, Usain Bolt-level fast, right? That was the entire stadium after Z-Bo’s air ball. He basically took a dump on the 3-point line.

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