chris paul's fake-reach steal

a clever jedi mind trick

i remember reading a players' tribune article by cj mccollum a few years ago. he was talking about elite guards in the nba, and he mentioned a cool tidbit about chris paul:

there's nothing inherently surprising about the fact that chris does this - it's a savvy move that a lot of cerebral players use, even in pickup basketball - but i've kept my eyes peeled ever since, looking for such a play.

at last, i've found one.

i present to you a play from game 4 of the first round series between the houston rockets and the minnesota timberwolves in the 2018 western conference playoffs:

chris fakes a reach-in from the left side behind derrick rose to induce him to switch the ball into his right hand, then easily steals the ball from the right side.

beautiful.

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