#PlayOTD: Philadelphia EOG SLOB Winner

The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on an end of game play for Robert Covington. With less than four seconds on the clock the Sixers ran a lob play that worked perfect due to great spacing on the weakside and an excellent screen led to the win.

Covington curls off a screen from Joel Embiid and catches a lob pass from the inbounder and lays it up to break the tie. The beauty of the play is not just the pass but also in the design of it. The defense is spread out as TJ McConnell and Ersan Ilyasova are standing at the three point line and well above the free throw line extended. With the game on the line teams have to pay attention to everyone on the court, so with these guys standing high above the free throw line extended the Sixers were able to take away any low weakside help. This spacing makes the play work.

Designing a play is more than just getting a player a clear look but it is also an opportunity to put the defense in a difficult position. This Sixers’ play is designed perfectly, it takes away the weakside help and creates a clear path to the rim for Covington’s game winner.

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Mo Dakhil

My name is Mohammad Dakhil and I bring 15 years of basketball experience at every level. I was a Manager with Santa Monica College and USC Men’s Basketball (1999-2005), and the Associate Head Coach at Santa Monica College Men’s Basketball team (2005-2006). After that I spent the following 8 years as Video Coordinator in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers (2006-2009, 2011-2014) and San Antonio Spurs (2009-2011). During my time in the NBA, I spent 3 off seasons as a member of the Australian National Men’s Basketball team (2010-2012) including qualifying for and taking part in the 2012 London Olympics.