(Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers have a new hero. With both of their stars, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, sidelined by injuries after starting the season in excellent form, and LeBron James also out, it was 21-year-old guard Nick Smith Jr. - a third-year point guard on a two-way contract - who saved the day and led the Lakers to a surprising 123:115 win in Portland.

Smith scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including a ridiculous 5-of-6 from three. He also shone thanks to a simple yet highly effective NBA set play - the Spain pick-and-roll - which Lakers head coach JJ Redick used beautifully and efficiently.

What exactly is the Spain pick-and-roll? For those unfamiliar, it’s a play where a center or power forward sets a high ball screen for the guard at the top of the key - a high pick-and-roll. Simultaneously, another player, usually a guard or a small forward, positions himself under the screener and sets a back screen for him right after the big man screens for the ball-handler.

This turns a two-man action into a three-man action. The play is effective because it challenges the defense to cover multiple threats: not just the pick-and-roll ball handler, with solutions like a hedge or a switch, but also the screener (cutting to the hoop), the back-screener (usually a reliable perimeter shooter). All three can become scoring threats. Here’s a quick video demonstration:

The term “Spain pick-and-roll” was coined in the U.S. roughly a decade ago, after Spain’s national team, coached by Italian Sergio Scariolo, used the play to significant effect. It’s a catchy name, though the action had been used before - in Europe and the U.S. alike. Still, the nickname stuck, and that’s what we’ll use here.

Below is Smith’s first time running a Spain pick-and-roll during the 2nd quarter vs. the Blazers. DeAndre Ayton set the initial screen for him at the top of the key, and then Smith went into a re-pick-and-roll - i.e, another ball screen. That’s when the “Spain” element began: Rui Hachimura moved from the paint to set a back screen for Ayton. The defense was mainly focused on those two. Ayton, a strong finisher, ended the night with 29 points, while Hachimura is shooting 45.5% from three this season.

Smith’s defender, Caleb Love, got caught on the screen. Robert Williams, positioned in drop coverage, looked ready to help on a drive but got screened and stuck to Ayton. Kris Murray stayed attached to Hachimura, leaving the lane wide open for an easy layup.

It wasn’t the first time the Blazers failed to stop this move. In the Lakers’ first possession of the game, following an initial flare screen for Hachimura, just as a decoy, Ayton screened for Marcus Smart while Dalton Knecht set a back screen for Ayton. Shaedon Sharpe stayed with Knecht, Donovan Clingan stepped up toward the ball but got hit with the back screen, and when Smart beat his man, Toumani Camara, it was too late for Clingan or Sharpe to recover and stop the layup.

The Lakers had now run the same Spain pick-and-roll twice - both times ending with an easy layup. Would the Blazers change anything? Hardly. On the next offensive possession, after Smith’s first basket, they reran it. This time, Smith passed to Ayton, got the ball back, and received another screen from the center, while Hachimura once again set a back screen for Ayton. Williams anticipated the back screen better and stayed lower to avoid it, wary of a drive. But Love got stuck again, leaving Smith wide open - this time for a three. The defense once more overreacted to the back screen and forgot about the initial ball screen.

Before the Lakers’ next possession, the Blazers’ coach, Tiago Splitter, adjusted - Donovan Clingan in, Robert Williams out. Clingan sagged and prevented the backscreen option. But there is no defensive adjustment to contain Smith Jr., who again utilizes Ayton’s screen for an open three. that’s 8 straight points from the same play.

In the third quarter, the same action returned, but with different screeners: Jaxson Hayes set the screen for Smith Jr., and Bronny James is supposed to set the screen for Hayes (eventually, it wasn’t needed). Sidy Cissoko guarded Smith, and Clingan covered Hayes. Notice how Hayes flipped the angle of his screen at the last moment - setting it on Cissoko’s right shoulder, allowing Smith to go left. The only possible help (a hedge) could have come from Clingan, but he was preoccupied with the back screen, looking behind him, and dropping low to protect the paint. Once again, Smith was completely free - and by now, brimming with confidence - draining another three.

It’s rare for a play to work perfectly 4 times in a game without a defensive adjustment. JJ Redick and Nick Smith Jr. pulled off just that against the Blazers.