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There were 13 games last night. We had some big dunks, a game-winner, embarrassing blowouts and one big revenge game.
Late-Game Heroics
De’Aaron Fox remains NBA’s most clutch player
Clutch players! We love and revere them! We also fear them? Players who are reliable and deadly with the game on the line are so insanely valuable. These moments can make or break seasons. We’re about one-third of the way through this season, so I thought we’d check in on some clutch players. There are three players who are currently thriving and three who are currently struggling.
(As a reminder: Clutch time is when a score is within five points or less game in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime. Below, the shooting splits numbers are field goal percentage/3-point percentage/free-throw percentage.)
Three clutch players
De’Aaron Fox, Kings: 68 points, 70.2 minutes | 51/43.8/73.3 splits
Outside of the Kings’ fanbase, I’m not sure how many people would pick the 27-year-old Fox with the game on the line, but he’s probably been the league’s most reliable player in close situations over the last three seasons. He won the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year award two seasons ago (Curry notched the award last season) and already has the most such points this season. Considering DeMar DeRozan is tied for sixth, that’s impressive.
Jayson Tatum, Celtics: 57 points, 65.3 minutes | 50/23.5/76.5 splits
Over the previous three seasons, Tatum was shooting 37.2 percent or worse on his crunchtime shot attempts. He really struggled to make good decisions with shot selection with the game on the line, and it was one of his glaring weaknesses. So far this season, though, the 26-year-old has been great in these moments.
Nikola Jokić, Nuggets: 56 points, 53.4 minutes | 53.1/57.1/75 splits
The three-time MVP is the best player in the world. He’s calm and deadly whenever he has the ball in his hands in big moments. There isn’t a shot he takes that you feel iffy about. There isn’t a moment that you don’t trust him either. Denver is plus-20 in the 50 minutes he’s played in the clutch for them this season. The Nuggets don’t win every close game, but Jokić makes you think they will.
Three un-clutch players
Tyler Herro, Heat: 31 points, 53.5 minutes | 29.4/18.2/87.5 splits
The 24-year-old scoring maestro hit a ridiculous 3-point shot to send the game to overtime against Detroit the other night, and it was a surprise based on how much he’s struggled in these moments this season. The good news is Herro has a solid history in close games and is not afraid of those moments, so I wouldn’t expect his shot-making to stay this poor.
Fred VanVleet, Rockets: 26 points, 68 minutes | 25.9/25/100 splits
VanVleet is one of the steady hands the Rockets are supposed to trust in the big moments, especially when Alperen Şengün is being swarmed by the defense. But it’s a little crazy VanVleet, when the game is close, has more shot attempts (27) than points (26). The good news is he doesn’t turn the ball over in those situations, and he’s a good enough shooter to feel this won’t be the norm all season.
Cade Cunningham, Pistons: 25 points, 45.3 minutes | 29.2/0.0/84.6 splits
We’ve seen a much better version of Cunningham this season, but that has not translated to gut-check moments. He’s struggled with fourth quarters in the past, but close-game situations have been much worse for him. The shot-making hasn’t been there, and he has as many turnovers (nine) as assists when the game is on the line. The good news is he’s at least getting to the line a good amount and knocking those down.
The Last 24
LeBron thinks the league has too many 3s
🏀 Time for a change? The NBA’s all-time leading scorer says there are too many threes in today’s game. He’s also unsure about the new All-Star format. Do you agree?
🏀 Can you shoot? Speaking of 3s, Law Murray broke down each team’s shooting. Bing bong.
📲 Tony Allen is hilarious. You have to watch the All-Defensive mainstay tell this story about wrecking Al Jefferson’s car. Check it here.
📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Bucks (14-11) at Cavaliers (23-4), 7:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV. This is the biggest test of this turnaround for the Bucks. Cleveland would love to ruin it.
About Last Night
How did Towns’ Twin Cities return go?
The Target Center and Timberwolves fans gave Karl-Anthony Towns the warm welcome he deserves. It’s obvious they still appreciate him and maybe still wish he played for the Wolves. But I don’t think they were all that grateful for what the Knicks did in this game. Lately, not many teams have been able to score easily on the Wolves, but not many teams possess New York’s offense and shooting.
The Knicks obliterated the Wolves’ defense in the second quarter, outscoring them 41-18, led by Towns and Mikal Bridges. The 29-year-old Towns finished with 32 points, 20 rebounds and six assists in the monster revenge game. Bridges had 29-6-6 as the Knicks cruised to a 133-107 victory. New York knocked down 20 3-pointers.
READ MORE: Jon Krawczynski and James L. Edwards III explain why KAT’s return wasn’t a normal game.
Thunder 105 (21-5), Magic 99 (17-12): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got back to cooking by dropping 35 on this Magic defense. Anthony Black (turns 21 on Jan. 20) had 23 off the bench for Orlando, and we need to keep an eye on Jalen Suggs over this next week. He hurt his ankle and played only 17 minutes.
Grizzlies 144 (19-9), Warriors 93 (14-12): This was supposed to be a fun matchup of two of the most exciting point guards in the league. Instead, it was a whooping by Memphis. Golden State was down 109-59 going into the fourth quarter. Embarrassing to lose that fourth quarter by one.
Spurs 133 (14-13), Hawks 126 OT (14-14): Victor Wembanyama had 42 points, six rebounds, five assists and four blocks in this one. The Hawks finished with four players scoring at least 21 points. But De’Andre Hunter getting us to overtime by dunking over Wemby is all I care about right now.
Blazers 126 (9-18), Nuggets 124 (14-11): Anfernee Simons scored a layup off the glass at the buzzer to take down Denver after Jokić. The Nuggets came storming back to tie the game down 17 in the fourth. The 25-year-old Simons’ 28 overcame 34 from Jokić.
Lakers 113 (15-12), Kings 100 (13-15): Austin Reaves led the Lakers with 25 as Anthony Davis put up 21 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks to bury Sacramento.
Clippers 118 (16-12), Mavericks 95 (17-10): No Luka Dončić. No Kyrie Irving. No chance. Norm Powell had 29 points to help the Clippers destroy Dallas after halftime.
Jazz 126 (6-20), Pistons 119 (11-17): Utah was up 48-19 after the first quarter. From there, the Jazz weathered the storm behind Collin Sexton, Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen combining for 85 points. But the two most important points were George dunking all over Jalen Duren.
Wizards 123 (4-21), Hornets 114 (7-20): After Charlotte apologized for taking a PS5 away from a kid and vowing it’ll “exceed expectations” moving forward, the Hornets lost by nine to the worst team. Jordan Poole had 27, and rookie Alex Sarr finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Bulls 117 (13-15), Celtics 109 (21-6): Maybe the Zach LaVine trade showcase stretch is happening now. He dropped 36 points on Boston, outdueling Tatum’s 31 points to give Chicago their best win of the year. A dominant 35-22 fourth quarter earned them the win.
Nets 101 (11-16), Raptors 94 (7-21): Speaking of trade showcases, maybe Cam Johnson is putting on a show for a future team? He had 33 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to bury Toronto. Brooklyn outscored the Raptors 31-18 in the fourth.
Rockets 133 (18-9), Pelicans 113 (5-23): Last time we saw Houston, it couldn’t score at all against OKC. New Orleans is not OKC, though. The Rockets lit up the Pelicans behind 34 points from Jalen Green.
Pacers 120 (13-15), Suns 111 (14-12): Kevin Durant had 37 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but none of it mattered. Pascal Siakam had 25 points to lead seven different Pacers in double figures.
A Real Star
Jalen Williams is a superstar in this league
I was a big fan of Jalen Williams out of Santa Clara going into the 2022 draft. I thought he should have gone way higher than 12th and that the Thunder got a steal with him. It was based on one of those feelings you get about a prospect that turns out to make you look like a genius. I should also note that I felt Ben McLemore was a can’t-miss star in 2013, so this isn’t exactly a sixth sense for draft feelings I possess.
With that being said, Shakeia Taylor wrote a brilliant profile about the 22-year-old Williams and his ascension into stardom on this Thunder squad. While Chet Holmgren gets so much of the attention when he’s healthy, Williams is their second-best player. SGA said in the story that “It would be stupid for me to give him a ceiling.” And I agree. While I thought Williams was a top prospect and a future All-Star, I didn’t think he’d get this good and certainly not this quickly.
There’s so much to be impressed by with Williams’ game, and I truly think he doesn’t have any holes in what he does or can do on the court. I wanted to point out a bit of statistical excellence to put his season in proper perspective.
Williams went into last night’s game averaging 21.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, five assists and two steals while possessing a 58.8 percent true shooting. These numbers are rare. How rare, you ask? Great question!
That list is Magic Johnson (1981), Larry Bird (1986), Michael Jordan four times (1985, 1989-91), James Harden in 2019 and Jimmy Butler in 2021. Williams and Dončić are enjoying those numbers this season. SGA remains an underpromoted superstar. And Williams is the perfect running mate for him. Even if the NBA hasn’t done a great job of promoting them, they’re going to give everybody no choice but to notice soon.
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(Top photo: Rocky Widner / Getty Images )
