Toronto Raptors teammates Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam taught the New York Knicks a valuable lesson on Thursday. Even when the ball is at midcourt, you need to protect the rim.
Lowry, who was bringing the ball up the court, hadn’t even reached midcourt yet. He launched the ball up towards Siakam, who leapt (showing off the hops that we’ve previously seen on defense), caught the ball, and finished the textbook alley-oop.
We don’t normally see alley-oops from beyond the midcourt line. But the opening was there for Lowry and Siakam. And if the opening is there, there’s no sense in not taking it.