Jeremy Evans Was Still Beyond The Arc When This Oop Was Alleyed

Jeremy Evans got into the Jazz's 112-102 win over Portland for all of three minutes, but he made it count. Both he and Jamaal Tinsley were still in three-point territory when Tinsley let fly with a no-look lob to the streaking Evans, who won the 2012 dunk contest and came in second this season.

But the man to watch is the Blazers' No. 4, Nolan Smith. Every alley-oop comes with its own no-man's-land for defenders, where there's not enough time to triangulate the ball, the basket, and the dunker, and commit to one of them. On an alley-oop from this distance, poor Smith finds himself utterly lost. He watches the pass (is it a shot?) until he notices Evans cutting from the side (nope it's a pass), and decides, in a 15-point game with two and change left, it's not worth trying to take a charge from Evans moving at that velocity (hell no). You can see it best on the replay beginning at 0:18—Smith gives a little grimace and physically begs off. Good call.