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The NBA’s rulebook is constantly evolving, and one of the biggest changes this season is the addition of a rule against the transition take foul.
Also known as the Euro foul, the league has explained that take fouls occur “during a transition scoring opportunity or immediately following a change of possession and before the offensive team had the opportunity to advance the ball.”
The rule is enforced when an opposing defender does not make a play on the ball to stop a scoring opportunity in transition. The offensive team is awarded one free throw, which can be attempted by any offensive player that is in the game at the time of the foul.
Transition scoring is up from 112.3 points per 100 possessions last season to 113.5 points per 100 possessions this season, per Cleaning the Glass. But the call has led to some controversy, like when the Warriors played the Grizzlies on Christmas Day:
Golden State’s Steve Kerr was shocked that his team was called for a take foul when they intentionally fouled Memphis big man Steven Adams during the third quarter of the game on Sunday, and as a result, Desmond Bane got a free trip to the charity stripe.
Kerr argued with the officials and he was called for a technical foul.
It makes sense why Kerr was confused. Transition take fouls are still not called very often. Defensive three-second violations are a bit more common even though that rule was instituted two decades ago.
NBA referees have called 102 transition take fouls so far this season, via PBPStats, which equates to approximately 0.10 calls per 48 minutes. That means each team may get called for a transition take foul around 8 times per season.
The take foul still confuses me
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) December 26, 2022
Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant has not yet committed a transition take foul — but he has drawn one. He tweeted that the foul rule is still confusing to him, too, even though he is a two-time NBA Finals MVP.
The decision to call a take foul when Golden State hacked Adams may have been the right call, even if it doesn’t do much to enforce the spirit of the rule.
Regardless, though, it probably isn’t great that someone who means as much to the league as Durant does not have a full grasp of the rule yet.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
The Lakers constantly double-teamed Luka Doncic when they played the Mavericks on Christmas, and it almost worked … until he destroyed them. Here is why:
“Doncic is the player who sees the most possessions double-teamed per game, via NBA Court Optix. Even when he is not double-teamed, he is defended very tightly. He has taken 57 field-goal attempts where the nearest defender is within two feet, which is the third-most in the NBA.
Los Angeles clearly intended to trap Doncic in the pick and roll, which they did on 7 possessions in each half of the game, according to Synergy. For comparison: That is far more often than how opponents typically guard Doncic, who had previously been trapped on 2.6 ball screens per game.
The problem with trapping Doncic on ball screens, though, is that it tends to leave his teammates wide open.
Doncic is also one of the best playmakers in the NBA, and he is smart enough to make adjustments. He is unselfish enough to pass out of tight coverage, and he was excellent when dishing out of hard double teams in the post and during possessions when he was trapped in the pick-and-roll.”
Even though double coverage on Doncic was why the Lakers won the first half, it was also why they struggled in the second.
One To Watch
(All odds via Tipico.)
Cavaliers (-130, -2.5) vs. Nets (+110), O/U 220.5, 7:00 PM ET
Kyrie Irving, who won a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, will return to play against his former team. The Cavs and the Nets have nearly identical records near the top of the standings in the Eastern Conference and this game would have been a better choice for Christmas Day than Knicks vs. 76ers.
Shootaround
— 76ers’ Shake Milton hit the most absurd half-court buzzer-beater and it was a Christmas miracle
— Aaron Gordon had the best dunk of the season during an overtime win on Christmas for the Nuggets
— James Harden addresses report about Rockets, says he is committed to the Sixers
— HoopsHype’s aggregate mock draft looks at the top prospects after Victor Wembanyama, Scoot Henderson