Blazers-Celtics: Oh, We Are Supposed to Shoot BEFORE the Clock Expires?

As the Blazers were running out to a 32-16 first quarter lead, the Rose Garden was rocking. As every time-out was greeted with a standing ovation by the ecstatic fans,  I turned to my wife and said, "They are going to lose this one." The 32 point explosion was fools gold...as was the paltry 16 points the Celtics were in the process of scoring. Even though they were seemingly scoring at will, there were signs that the Blazers' offense was in deep trouble. Every possession scored with 1 - 2 seconds left was a bail-out, long range jumper against a tough defense. Even worse, that seemed to be by design. The Blazers seldom hurry to get the ball upcourt. By contrast, the Suns want to shoot in 6 seconds or less. 6 seconds is less time that it takes for Portland to get the ball across the mid-court stripe. Once they do, they are still in no hurry to get on offense. Typically, Brandon Roy, Jarrett Jack, or Steve Blake will dribble outside the 3-point line until 10 seconds left, with ... [link]