FanPost

How Has SAS Won All Those Games in Clutch Time?

By NBA.com’s usual criteria for clutch time – a 5 point or less difference in scores during last 5 minutes of regulation or in overtime – SAS has had a total of 23 minutes of clutch time over 4 games – 10 of these minutes were against DAL. During the 13 minutes before DAL, SAS scored 40 points, a solid 3 points per minute. However, its opponents scored 35. Thus, SAS won the first 3 wins clutch wins by a total of 9 points (MIN +4, LAL +1, and LAL +4). Of this 9-point total difference, 5 points were achieved during clutch time. Against DAL (+5 point), as with all overtime games including against LAL (+1), the total difference was achieved in overtime.

SAS shot substantially better from three than its opponents (6-10 vs. 5-18) though SAS shot poorer from two. Free throws were the biggest positive scoring difference. Opponents committed 11 fouls giving SAS 21 free throw (16-21) while SAS committed 8 fouls yielding 12 free throws (8-12). This resulted in a +8-point difference though FTM were equal against DAL. SAS did not commit a turnover during the first three clutch games while opponents committed a total of 2, the result of 2 SAS steals. Against DAL, SAS committed 2 TOVs while DAL committed 4. In total, these four fewer turnovers and 1 more offensive rebound led to SAS having 5 "extra" possessions. These extra possessions were part of what allowed SAS to have 9 more FTAs than opponents and 8 more FTM.

Clutch Time Traditional Stats through Four such Games

TEAM

W

L

MIN

PTS

FGM

FGA

FG%

3PM

3PA

3P%

FTM

FTA

FT%

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

TOV

STL

BLK

BLKA

PF

PFD

+/-

SAS

4

0

23

62

20

42

47.6

6

10

60.0

16

21

76.2

3

19

22

10

2

6

2

3

8

11

9

Opps

4

0

23

53

20

43

46.5

5

18

27.8

8

12

66.7

2

20

22

12

6

0

3

2

11

8

-9

During clutch time SAS had an offensive rating of 117 points per 100 possessions and a defensive rating of 106 for a net rating of 11. SAS had an outstanding assist to turnover rating of 5.00. SAS collected 47.2% of available rebounds, shot at 54.8% eFG and 60.5 TS% while playing at a pace of 108.26 possessions per 48 minutes on average.

Altogether, SAS shot well and played good enough defense to win. However, SAS did hold DAL to only 6 points during the 5 minutes of overtime.



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