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DURING LAST YEAR'S NBA Finals, the Spurs bludgeoned the Heat with arguably the highest form of basketball ever-sublime playmaking, absurd perimeter shooting and lightning-quick passing that exhausted the finest player of a generation.
Apparently, the players and coaches of the Hawks have TVs, because they've employed that same starless, free-flowing offense to obliterate the Eastern Conference. Their efficiency owes a debt not only to coach Mike Budenholzer, a Spurs assistant for 17 seasons, but to the fact that many of the Hawks' plays are ripped straight from San Antonio's playbook. Atlanta's mastery of the offense is a testament to two characteristics both teams employ: wide-open spacing and shooting, shooting, shooting. Also: shooting. Here are three plays, directed by Jeff Teague, that illustrate what makes this Hawks offense so damn pretty-and so gosh-darn unguardable.
PLAY 1: RUB 4/5
Employed by the Hawks in many end-of-quarter and end-of-game scenarios, this high pick-and-roll with one of the big men (A, B) discourages zone and help defenses. The Rub spreads shooters to the corners and features a second big man moving block to block (C). And for the likes of sliding sharpshooter Kyle Korver (D), it's all about that space, 'bout that space.
MAN BY MAN
Jeff Teague is elite in pick-and-rolls, scoring .928 points per possession as the ball handler, placing him in the NBA's 88th percentile, per Synergy Sports.
DeMarre Carroll stands in the weakside corner, where he's shooting 45.2 percent. Carroll is a great kick-out option for Teague if the interior D collapses on him.
Paul Millsap slides from block to block, making it harder for defenses to help off him as Al Horford rolls to the other side of the paint.
Kyle Korver lifts out of the corner, which discourages his defender from playing help D on a penetrating Teague. The reason? Korver is leading the league in 3-point shooting, jarring treys at a ridiculous rate of 49.2 percent.
Al Horford now has the space, and the single coverage, to maneuver as the roll man, a position from which he's scoring 1.34 points per possession in 2015, good for an elite 86th percentile in the NBA
PLAY 2: WEDGE ROLL
Ripped from the playbook of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, this two-man pick-and-roll (A, B) is designed to confuse the D into either overhelping (leaving Horford open as he rolls to the left baseline) or not helping at all (leaving Korver alone). Any help D on the driving Teague (C) results in shooters being a pass away from a wide-open trey. In other words, you can't win.
MAN BY MAN
Korver sets the cross screen for Horford, then spaces out to the 3-point line, drawing attention away from the pick-and-roll.
Horford, after setting his screen, rolls toward the left baseline, where he shoots 59.5 percent, a full 20 percentage points above the NBA average.
Teague must recognize if the help defense is coming, which could force him to lateral to either Carroll or Korver, who shoots 49.5 percent from the right wing.
Millsap's weakside position forces his defender to choose: either help with Horford as he rolls, or stay, allowing isolation on the strong side.
Carroll's corner slot gives the Hawks options: Teague can drive and dish, or Korver can swing it if Horford's defender slides over after the initial screen.
PLAY 3: STRONG
This play works because each starter is a shooting threat (a collective 39.7 percent from 3). It features possibly four passes (A), a screen by Millsap after his pass (B), a screen by Carroll after his pass (C) and a sliding big (D). It's not about spacing so much as the options it provides. And boy, does it provide a lot of those.
MAN BY MAN
Teague can do so many things here: shoot off the screen from Millsap, hit Millsap as he rolls to the rim or fire a pass to Korver, who becomes open on the wing after a Carroll screen.
Millsap passes to Carroll, sets the screen for Teague, then rolls to the right elbow, recently exited by Horford, who slides to the other side of the paint.
Carroll sets the pin-down screen for Korver and stays there, providing a pass-out option for Teague. Carroll does, after all, make 46.2 percent from there.
Korver, having arguably the best shooting season in NBA history, sprints up the sideline for a catch-and-shoot from the left wing, where a full 15 percent of his shots come from.
Horford slides to the other side of the paint, giving Millsap room to roll. He also presents another pick-and-roll chance, this time with Korver on the left wing.