Trae Young walks slowly alongside the ball in late November. His Hawks are up three against the Rockets with six minutes left in the game. He burns nearly 18 seconds off the game clock — the longest he’s walked the dog this season. But the next five and a half minutes go poorly for Atlanta. Young goes 0-for-3 from the floor, Houston’s Jalen Green explodes late in the fourth and the Hawks lose the game, 128-122. Atlanta could have used those wasted seconds in the game’s final moments. This is one of the key risks of walking the dog when the game is on the line. “I think there’s always a trade-off,” says Jeff Van Gundy, the broadcaster and former coach. “You are able to run some time off the clock. The counterpoint would be: At what expense to your rhythm and your flow? It’s not as simple a decision as just trying to take time off the clock, because it could actually hurt you.”
by Hoops Hype