Up By Three, The Cavs Fouled The Pistons With 5.6 Seconds Left. It Went Horribly Wrong.

In recent years, a certain endgame strategy has become more popular in NBA discourse. When a team is up by three in the dying moments of a game, coaches and analysts have warmed up to the idea of intentionally fouling, in order to prevent the opposing team from attempting a three and possibly tying the game.

Last Friday, the Cleveland Cavaliers tried this tactic. It didn’t work.

With 6.5 seconds left in their matchup against the Detroit Pistons, the Cavs were up 114-111. As the Pistons inbounded the ball, Cavs forward Jaylon Tyson went to foul Daniss Jenkins as he brought the ball across the halfcourt line. Anticipating the contact, Jenkins went into a shooting motion just as Tyson committed the foul.

The result: Jenkins was awarded three free throws, all of which he made. After being down a basket towards the end of regulation, the Pistons forced overtime and eventually secured a 122-119 win.

Was Tyson taking orders from Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson when he fouled Jenkins? “100%,” Atkinson admitted in the post-game media session. “We wanted to foul earlier. I think there was a screen he had to navigate…[Jenkins] got into the scoring area. As soon as he caught the ball, we could have nailed him there.”

Though the Cavs got burned for this crunchtime slip-up, there’s little indication that other NBA teams will change their mind on the viability of this strategy. With the talent level in the NBA being at an all-time high, any given shot-maker can launch a shot from beyond the arc and either tie the score or seal a victory.

Because of the situation in the Cavs-Pistons game, the pros and cons of this approach have once again been highlighted. While it makes sense to try to limit the opposing team’s scoring potential from three points to two, there are other variables like the ability to secure the defensive rebound in case of a miss on the second free throw.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that the ball handler will be sharp enough to time his shooting motion with the intentional foul. Jenkins did exactly this last Friday, and it paid off. For the Cavaliers, their strategy went horribly wrong.