Analysis

The block is the last frame of a much longer sequence. Most of the work happens two passes earlier, in…

Put a genuine playmaker at the five and every help decision behind the ball turns into a wager.

The shot the math argued away is still the one that decides the last four minutes — for the small…

Running is not the same as playing fast. The difference is made in the first two seconds after the ball…

Anybody can send help. What separates defences is what the two players behind the help do in the following second.

Six weeks on, the contenders that added size are cashing in, and the ones that stood pat are starting to…

Ticket prices, decibel readings and a 29-point guard with no off switch — New York is peaking at the right…

Bottom-ten in half-court defense since March, and the film shows a team hunting steals instead of finishing possessions.

The second unit has found a playoff identity: defend full court, run before the defense is set and make every…