De’Aaron Fox was a fairly easy pick for the first-ever Kia NBA Clutch Player of the Year award, because …
1. He scored 35 more clutch points than any other player.
2. He shot better than 50% on clutch shots.
3. He had eight buckets (tied for second most) to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime.
Reminder: Clutch games are those that were within five points in the last five minutes. Clutch stats are accumulated on possessions where the score was within five points in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime. And clutch plus-minus should be ignored…
Here’s a look at the league’s clutch leaders as we get set to hit the midway point of the season on Thursday …
1. Stephen Curry: The clutch leader
Through Tuesday, the leader in total clutch points is Stephen Curry with 113. Curry benefits, of course, from his team having played five more clutch games than any other team. But, like Fox last season, he’s made more than half of his clutch shots (32-for-62, 52%).
Even better, Curry is 19-for-38 (50%) on clutch 3-pointers, with the 19 being 10 more than any other player has made and the 50% tied for the fourth-best mark among 51 players who’ve attempted at least 10.
He’s also 30-for-31 (97%) on clutch free throws, the best mark among 28 players who’ve attempted at least 15.
Interestingly, last year’s Clutch Award winner, Fox, has both the worst mark among players who’ve attempted at least 10 clutch 3s (0-for-13) and the worst mark among players who’ve attempted at least 15 clutch free throws (12-for-20).
Here are the next five guys regarding total clutch points scored this season …
Damian Lillard – 92
Wins points for turning a two-point deficit into a victory with a buzzer-beating pull-up from 32 feet. More on Lillard below …
Mikal Bridges – 90
Has taken more clutch shots (and more clutch free throws) than any two of his teammates. More on him below …
Trae Young – 79
Fourth in clutch usage rate (39.7%) and sixth with 13 clutch assists, but has shot just 19-for-49 (39%), including 5-for-21 (24%) from 3-point range, with the score within five in the last five.
DeMar DeRozan – 71
You know he’s going to have the ball in his hands when the game is on the line. He’s missed a few big shots, but he’s 50% on clutch 2-pointers, 2-for-3 on clutch 3s and better than 80% on clutch free throws.
Nikola Jokic – 71
Clutch performance could certainly come into account in MVP voting. Jokic has a signature clutch moment, is third in clutch usage rate and has shot 54% on clutch shots. Giannis Antetokounmpo (65 points on 53% shooting) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (53 on 59% shooting and a last-second game-winner) would have also the edge in that regard over Joel Embiid, who leads the league in clutch usage rate (45.7%), but has played just 10 clutch games and shot just 10-for-25 (40%) on clutch shots.
2. Tyrese Haliburton: Clutch accuracy
Among 43 players who’ve attempted at least 20 clutch shots this season, Tyrese Haliburton (20-for-29) has the best field goal percentage (69%) and effective field goal percentage (84.5%). He’s also tied for second with 15 clutch assists. Pacers teammate Buddy Hield is second on the field-goal-percentage list and Indiana has had the league’s No. 1 clutch offense, having scored 132.3 points per 100 possessions with the score within five in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime.
3. Damian Lillard: Tighter situations
The standard clutch criteria — score within five in the last five — is a little broad, and those stats could include an inconsequential shot or two (like those in the final seconds that don’t affect the outcome).
If we look at possessions where the score was within three in the final three minutes (almost entirely consequential shots), Curry (40 points) moves down to third, behind Lillard (50) and Bridges (45).
Lillard had his signature moment on Sunday, beating the Kings with a 32-footer at the buzzer after Fox, ironically, left the door open with a missed free throw. Milwaukee leads the league with 16 clutch wins and Lillard is one of two Bucks (Brook Lopez is the other) who’ve played in all 16 wins.
4. Banchero and Bridges: Most clutch buckets
The biggest shots are those that could tie the game or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime. Your two leaders in made buckets in those situations are Bridges and Paolo Banchero, in part because they’ve attempted the most shots in those situations…
Eighty-one players have made and 151 who’ve attempted at least one shot to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime. Nine teams have four different guys who’ve made one, while the Wizards (who’ve played the fewest clutch games and are just 2-10 in them) are the only team without a single bucket (they’re 0-for-6) to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime.
Two of Alex Caruso‘s 3s were in the final three seconds, one for the win in overtime and a buzzer-beater to send another game to OT (where the Bulls won). His other two — both for the lead, one in a win, one in a loss — came on back-to-back nights in mid-November. All four took place in the Bulls’ first 20 games of the season.
Lillard’s game-winning 3 against the Kings was his first bucket to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or OT. He was previously 0-for-4, with all five of his attempts coming from beyond the arc.
The players with the most attempts without a make in those situations are all 0-for-5: Jaylen Brown, Cade Cunningham, Jerami Grant and Brandon Ingram. Four other players, including Kevin Durant and Embiid, are 0-for-4. Banchero and Curry have the most misses (seven) in these situations.
DeRozan led the league last season with 10 buckets (on 22 attempts) to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime. He was tied (with Saddiq Bey and Ja Morant) for the league lead (only five) the season prior and finished second (seven to Jayson Tatum’s eight) in 2020-21.
5. Other numbers
Clutch performance isn’t just about shooting …
Coby White leads the league with 16 clutch assists. Spencer Dinwiddie is tied for third with 14, but 10 of those were 3-pointers, so he’s tied with White for the most clutch points via assists (38).
Fred VanVleet has 15 clutch assists and zero clutch turnovers.
Two guys who were traded for each other — Deandre Ayton and Jusuf Nurkic — are tied for the league lead with 11 offensive rebounds with the score within five in the last five minutes. Some of those are tip-in attempts, of course, and the two bigs are a combined 17-for-40 (43%) on clutch shots.
Nic Claxton leads the league in both blocks (eight) and steals + blocks (nine) with the score within five in the last five. Young, Durant and Antetokounmpo are tied for second in the latter with eight, while Caruso is the steals leader with six.
