How Jamal Crawford gives them the slip

Leaving them all crossed up

Clippers guard Jamal Crawford uses several crossover moves with his dribble to free himself from defenders, relying on his quickness, deception and crafty ball handling. The plays are designed to create enough space for Crawford to take a jumper or drive to the basket or collapse the defense so that he can pass to an open teammate. Crawford can use a variety of moves to find an opening in the defense. Here is a sampling of his favorite crossovers:

Standard crossover — While dribbling the ball, Crawford fakes one way and quickly changes directions while switching the ball to the opposite hand. He can go left to right or right to left.

Hesitation — He takes a stutter step, pausing to freeze the defender before transitioning into a subsequent move.

Hang dribble — Crawford dribbles with the ball “hanging” at his side, assessing whether he wants to go to his left or right or move into another crossover.

Shake and bake — He dribbles through his legs and then behind his back, with the quick flurry of moves often confounding the defender.

Step back — While dribbling, Crawford steps back for separation and collects himself to go into a secondary move.

Nutmeg — A crossover that involves throwing the ball between a defender’s legs to a teammate or to himself. Crawford attributes the name to TNT analyst and former NBA Coach Jeff Van Gundy, who was referring to a similar move in soccer.