During the Milwaukee Bucks' thrilling 119-116 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night, forward Khris Middleton was told by head coach Jason Kidd to intentionally miss a free with just 1.4 seconds left in regulation.
According to an article written by Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, coach Kidd elaborated on his decision to have Middleton intentionally miss the free throw in that particular situation.
“We talked about it as he walked to the free throw line,” Kidd said. “My first response was to miss the second one. We’ll take the bet of someone making it from the other side of the floor. If we did make that free throw, our luck they get it in-bounds at half-court and we foul the 3-point shooter and it’s a four-point play. We’ll take our chances with them heaving a full-court shot.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UvgtMuFgzQ
Also, if you look at the bottom left of the video screen at the Cavs' name on the score ticker, Cleveland does not have any timeouts left. Since Middleton intentionally missed the shot, whoever got the rebound for Cleveland (it ended up being Cavs' superstar forward LeBron James) would essentially have to shoot a full-court shot in order to tie up the game. Coach Kidd really liked those odds and his smart plan paid off.
Follow Us
Subscribe