To say that Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors went down the wire would be a major understatement. It was an instant classic, with both teams unwilling to give up until the very end. Ultimately, though, it was LeBron James and the Lakers who emerged with a thrilling 104-101 victory to take a commanding 3-1 series lead against the defending champs.
The Warriors, however, were in it until the very end. As a matter of fact, they had a chance to tie the game with 15.0 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. At that point, they were down by three points, and Dubs head coach Steve Kerr drew up a play that could have potentially resulted in a game-tying triple. The sequence did not achieve the desired result for the Warriors, though, and it seems that this was because of the fact that the Lakers knew the exact play Golden State was going to pull.
ESPN's Richard Jefferson broke down the Warriors' final play, which ultimately resulted in Draymond Green turning the ball over with an errant pass. Apparently, this is called the “hammer play,” which incidentally, was named after Lakers head coach Darvin Ham:
The Warriors ran the "hammer" play in the final moments of Game 4.
The play was designed for Darvin Ham back in the day and the Lakers were ready for it 🔨🤯
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/PiFEEGIj6d
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 9, 2023
Well, it's not a shocker that Ham is well aware of the intricacies of a play that was named after him. It is also clear that he prepared his team for it, and true enough, the Lakers executed their defensive stance perfectly.
You can't really blame Steve Kerr for attempting to pull a fast one on his adversary here. It would have been amazing to score a game-tying basket on a play that was named after the opposition's coach. Unfortunately for the Warriors, it just didn't pan out.
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