Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Maxey, Jamal Murray, and Anthony Edwards are the NBA’s top-four clutch scorers this season. All of them have scored at least 130 points in the clutch. Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way with 156.
That automatically makes the Thunder star the frontrunner for the Clutch Player of the Year award. All three of the first winners—De’Aaron Fox, Stephen Curry, and Jalen Brunson—led the league in clutch points when they won the award.
Scoring isn’t the only way to impact a game in the clutch, though. Scottie Barnes, for example, has been a clutch defender all season long.
Scottie Barnes has an interesting case for Clutch Player of the Year
Scottie Barnes doesn’t even rank in the top fifty in total clutch points this season. He is tied with Franz Wagner and LeBron James for 57th place with 45 clutch points in 109.1 minutes.
Defensively, it’s been quite a different story. Barnes leads the league in clutch blocks with nine. Throughout the season, he has made several difference-making defensive plays in close games.
When the Raptors last faced the Suns, they were up 114-110 with 48.7 seconds left on the clock. Jalen Green got past Barnes and had an open lane to the basket. Barnes recovered to get an emphatic block from behind that led to a dunk from RJ Barrett on the other end.
Barnes was also instrumental in the Raptors’ 103-101 win against the Thunder. With just 28 seconds left in the game, the Raptors were up 101-99. Chet Holmgren got the ball at the 3-point line and drove into a seven-foot pull-up jumper against Barnes. Barnes, who gives up a few inches against Holmgren, blocked the shot and grabbed the ball. The play led to free throws for Jamal Shead after a timeout. Shead missed both, but Barnes tapped the ball out, which led to another OKC foul and free throws for Immanuel Quickley.
Barnes also made a similar play against LeBron James, even though that one unfortunately didn’t result in a win. When the Raptors played the Lakers in January, the game was tied 118-118 with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter. James got the ball out of a pick-and-roll with Austin Reeves and went to attack the basket. Barnes forced him into a turnaround jump shot and blocked it. Ingram grabbed the ball and made a jump shot on the other end, but the Lakers still ended up winning by three points.
While Barnes’s clutch defensive plays regularly end up on a highlight reel, the Raptors play excellent clutch defense as a whole. They lead the league with a defensive rating of 95.9 in the clutch.