There are a lot of wildly skilled players in the NBA — guys who can shake and bake and step back and go between the legs and around the back and break you down and make you look silly. There are also a lot of guys who don’t have much skill but instead thrive on size, speed, energy, and timing. Sometimes, though, those size-speed-energy-timing guys do so many things so well that they end up looking wildly skilled, anyway.
Clint Capela is one of those players. Capela is a master of space and time, and always knows where to be, when, and why. He makes things happen all over the floor, simply by always being in the right spot, at the right time, for the right reasons, and usually before the other team’s center.
On Thursday night against the Nuggets, Capela showed off all the different ways he can beat you. He lurked in the dunker spot. He mooched off the offensive glass. He beat the Nuggets’ big men down the floor in transition. He dove to the rim off pick-and-rolls. He made plays in space. And he used his knowledge of angles and timing to flip the direction of his screens in order to free his teammates, James Harden and Chris Paul, for easier looks. It was a master class.
In this week’s edition of Last Night, In Basketball, we break it all down.
Last Night, In Basketball is a video breakdown series from the basketball mind of Jared Dubin. You can see the videos for free on Twitter and YouTube, but if you enjoy the work and want to see more, you can pledge your support on Patreon.
