Who Are The NBA’s Best And Worst Scorers In The Clutch This Season?


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Being “clutch” comes to define a superstar, for better or worse, and it can be hard to shake perception from reality once a reputation is built. Take for example LeBron James, who has become one of the NBA’s best players in crunch time over the past seven or eight seasons but still gets criticized by some fans for not being a clutch player in the mold of Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, whether the stats tell a different story or not.

Like every stat, clutch stats have their flaws. The NBA lists clutch situations as any game that is within five points on either side (winning or losing) in the final five minutes. Obviously, some of those situations are more stressful or pressure filled than others, but it does offer a good look at who is their best when it’s closing time (or time for a comeback).

We are now at the midway point of the 2017-18 season, so it’s as good a time as any to look back and take stock of who has been the best this season in the clutch and who has struggled the most. First, we’ll look at the teams that have been the best and worst in games in which that clutch scenario, as defined earlier, come into play.

The Celtics, unsurprisingly, live at the top of this list. They have been the cardiac kids for much of the season, but have come out on top in 20 of their 27 games that have been within five points with five or fewer minutes to play in regulation. Boston is shooting a crazy 54.2 percent from the field during clutch situations (which leads the league) and their 16.1 net rating is seventh in the league.

The Spurs are tops in that category at +33.9, which is absurd, especially considering they’re doing so without the services of Kawhi Leonard for most of those games. San Antonio is 13-5 in games that feature clutch scenarios and their 85.7 defensive rating in those times is by far and away the league’s best. Cleveland and Golden State are also near the top in that category, which comes as no surprise, but the presence of the Heat (18-7, +26.2 net rating) and the Kings (11-8, +19.5 net rating) is very interesting to see.

On the flip side, the bottom of the list features few surprises as Dallas (7-21, -26.8 net rating), LAC (9-12, -22.3 net rating) and Atlanta (6-15, -20.2 net rating) are the bottom dwellers. Of playoff contenders, Washington (11-13, -12.0 net rating) and Oklahoma City (10-12, -11.1 net rating) have been the worst in the clutch.When you look at individuals, you’ll see why the Wizards and Thunder have struggled so much in close games and why those at the top are where they are.

Before getting into a little more context, here are the 10-best and 10-worst shooters in the clutch this season out of the 77 players with a minimum of 20 field goal attempts, because that seems like a good arbitrary number for a reasonable sample size.

Top 10:
1. Ben Simmons (PHI): 16-of-21 (72.7%)
2. Jayson Tatum (BOS): 19-of-27 (70.4%)
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): 20-of-30 (66.7%)
4. Anthony Davis (NOP): 16-of-25 (64%)
5. LaMarcus Aldridge (SAS): 16-of-28 (57.1%)
6. Josh Richardson (MIA): 12-of-21 (57.1%)
7. Kevin Durant (GSW): 15-of-27 (55.6%)
8. LeBron James (CLE): 43-of-79 (54.4%)
9. Joel Embiid (PHI): 19-of-36 (52.8%)
10. Julius Randle (LAL): 11-of-21 (52.4%)

Bottom 10:
68. Robin Lopez (CHI): 8-of-26 (30.8%)
69. Blake Griffin (LAC): 8-of-26 (30.8%)
70. Bradley Beal (WAS): 19-of-63 (30.2%)
71. Jusuf Nurkic (POR): 8-of-27 (29.6%)
72. John Wall (WAS): 11-of-38 (28.9%)
73. Allen Crabbe (BKN): 6-of-21 (28.6%)
74. Jeff Teague (MIN): 6-of-21 (28.6%)
75. Wesley Matthews (DAL): 9-of-31 (28.1%)
76. Carmelo Anthony (OKC): 11-of-41 (26.8%)
77. Jeremy Lamb (CHA): 3-of-21 (14.3%)

A few things about these lists. First, LeBron does everything for the Cavs in crunch time. It’s ridiculous, which makes his success even more absurd. Only Kevin Love (8-of-23) shows up on this list of players with 20 or more clutch attempts for the Cavs. You know exactly who is going to take the shot for the Cavs in the fourth quarter of a close game and to this point no one has been able to do anything about it.

The only other player close to LeBron in attempts and efficiency in the clutch? Kyrie Irving at 71 attempts while shooting 50.7 percent, which is also crazy. Man, imagine if those two played on the same team?! Oh, yeah. Never mind.

Next, look at the young Sixers! Ben Simmons can’t shoot from outside 15 feet and yet he still is torching people late in games. Joel Embiid, meanwhile, is also a monster. They’re going to be so good when they start really building a roster around those two (and health pending, of course).

Then there’s Jayson Tatum, who is a rookie, and apparently is unaware he’s supposed to struggle some with the stage of it all. Not only does he lead the league in three-point percentage, but he’s the second most efficient clutch shooter in the NBA (including 4-of-5 on clutch threes).

On the other side, you now see why the Thunder and Wizards struggle. Washington’s two biggest stars have been abysmal in close, late game situations this season, going a combined 30-of-101 from the field. While Carmelo stands out on this list for having a clutch shooting percentage of 26.8%, the rest of OKC’s stars aren’t helping as, Paul George (11-of-31, 35.5%) and Russell Westbrook (34-of-92, 37%) have struggled as well. Yes, it’s insane that Westbrook has taken ninety-two field goal attempts in the clutch. My man gets his shots up.

That was a very basic look, so let’s dive a little deeper into the guys that are taking the most clutch shots on a per game basis in these situations. There are 27 players in the NBA that average two or more attempts in clutch game situations in at least more than one game. These are the guys taking the lead on offense when their teams are in close games and they’re playing, meaning a few different names show up that didn’t fit the larger overall sample size.

1. Chris Paul (60%)
2. Kevin Durant (55.6%)
3. LeBron James (54.4)
4. Donovan Mitchell (51.6%)
5. Dion Waiters (51.4%)
6. Kyrie Irving (50.7%)
7. Michael Beasley (50%)
8. Kris Dunn (46.9%)
9. Kristaps Porzingis (46.4%)
10. Eric Bledsoe (46.3%)
11. Steph Curry (45.8%)
12. Damian Lillard (45.8%)
13. DeMar DeRozan (44.6%)
14. Victor Oladipo (44.4%)
15. C.J. McCollum (42.6%)
16. Jimmy Butler (41.8%)
17. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (41.2%)
18. Reggie Jackson (40%)
19. Lauri Markkanen (39.5%)
20. Spencer Dinwiddie (39.1%)
21. James Harden (38.9%)
22. Kemba Walker (37.9%)
23. Russell Westbrook (37%)
24. Dennis Schröder (35%)
25. Blake Griffin (30.8%)
26. Bradley Beal (30.2%)
27. John Wall (28.9%)

There’s no one that should be surprised at the top three here, although Paul’s success compared to Harden’s is interesting, especially considering Houston is 6-1 with Paul in clutch situations and 8-6 with Harden (meaning they’ve struggled to win close games without Paul). The fourth name on the list is very interesting, as Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell has taken over in late game situations and is thriving.

At the bottom, you see the Wizards’ duo as well as others on teams that have really struggled in the clutch, like Atlanta’s Dennis Schröder and Charlotte’s Kemba Walker. It will be interesting to see how this list changes from this midseason check in to the end of the season, but there are some key takeaways from this look.

Most notably, the Wizards and Thunder need their stars to figure out whatever their late game issues are if they’re going to make a deep postseason run. It’s not likely they’ll get far in the postseason if they can’t produce better offensively in the fourth quarter of close games. On the flip side, the Cavs and Warriors know they can lean on their veteran superstars late in games to hit big shots when needed. Boston, while much younger, appears to have a number of players, led by Kyrie, willing and able to step up to knock down important shots late.

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