Cavaliers get burned by 'up-three' foul strategy that shouldn't be allowed in the first place
CBSN
Pistons stole a barnburner off a half-court heave that felt like poetic justice
Statistically speaking, when Cade Cunningham fouled out with just under two minutes to play on Friday, the Pistons, down six after Jarrett Allen made his two free throws, had less than a 9% chance of coming back to beat the Cavaliers.
It wasn't an offensive clinic by any stretch without Cunningham, but the Pistons, thanks in large part to Craig Craig Porter Jr. and Evan Mobley each shanking a potentially game-icing free throw, managed to scrap their way to a three-point deficit with possession and 6.5 seconds remaining.
Which, for Cleveland, brought about one of the modern game's most polarizing dilemmas: To foul, or not foul, with a three-point lead in the closing seconds of a game. The analytics say foul every time, but coaches are a conservative, paranoid bunch, and a lot of them choose to play out the defensive possession and concede a game-tying attempt rather than risk fouling a shooter in the act and giving up three free throws.
On Friday, Kenny Atkinson took the risk. And burned the Cavs big time when Detroit's Daniss Jenkins alertly went into his shooting motion from beyond half court just as Jaylon Tyson made intentional contact with him.
Nikola Jokic loves to do this, launching into a shot from a mile away whenever he senses contact coming to try to steal three free throws. It's basically a gimmick and officials are wired not to fall for it. They are going to call this foul on the ground every time unless the contact lines up perfectly with the shooting motion, which almost never happens. But take a closer look, and you'll see this time it actually did.
