Klutch

[MexicanMamba]

Words: 4,065


Big moments make for great drama in basketball. When things get the most intense is when we get a chance to see what our favorite athletes are really made of. Will they step up, embrace the challenge and carry the weight of their fans and teammates on their backs? Or will they fold like a dusty lawn chair? Well, today is going to focus on those that stepped up to the challenge and stood up to adversity. Through the eyes of various individuals involved in these moments, here are the top 10 clutch performances in Season 52.



10



11/1/2041

American Airlines Center
Dallas, TX

Denver Nuggets vs. Dallas Mavericks

1:41 remaining in the 4th quarter.

131-131


Dudley could feel the tension in the arena. The fans were craving the opportunity to cheer for a winner. Hell, he was desperate to give that to them. Though he had only been starting his 4th season in the league, with no playoff appearances to this point and staring down the barrel of am 0-3 start this season, the theory of relativity was kicking in. Shit felt like a lifetime. After Norris Turney hit a game tying 3 moments earlier, Dudley noticed the shoulders of his teammates sink. Same ole, same ole, is probably what was going through all their minds. He tried to meet the eyes of everyone, ANYONE, on the court. When no one else met his gaze, he clapped his hands three times in succession, hoping to wake everyone up. Morley, moving to the baseline to inbound the ball, was the first to look.

“I got you!”

Dudley mouthed the words to his teammate, and Morley nodded back before barking a few calls out to the rest of the squad. The whistle blew and Dudley ran to the ball, Morley gave the inbound pass to him and Dudley sent it right back. The game had been an exhausting one and everyone on both teams had that written all over their faces. This early in the season very few players had their legs completely underneath them. So, Dudley fought through the fatigue, knowing he had to set the tone and give energy.

The ball began to swing, pass after pass. 4 passes, 5 and 6, moving around the half-court set trying to find an opening. The ball found Dudley’s hands again and he could see the red sea parting. He could envision where the open shot was going to come. After getting the ball at the free throw line, Dudley sent a bounce pass to the left baseline for Kuyekendall. Dudley faked a hard cut to the basket and the Nuggets’ Don Sanchez came off-balance just enough. Dudley stepped back from the free throw line and stepped back behind the 3-point line at the top of the key. Kuyekendall saw the opening and fired the ball back to him.

Sanchez charged for the contest but being only 6’5” to Dudley Carner’s 6’9” frame and being off-kilter, Dudley was able to ride up smoothly and see the rim clean. Obviously, it was mere seconds, but that damn relativity kicked in again and it felt like an eternity waiting for the ball to glide to the hoop and threw the net. One of the most beautiful sounds to Carner is the whooshing sound the ball makes as it goes through cleanly. He couldn’t hear it this time though because an even sweeter sound drowned it out.

The frenzy of the home crowd.

FINAL: 135 – 133, Mavericks



9



12/3/2041

Little Caesars Arena
Detroit, MI

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons

0:07 remaining in the 4th quarter.

112-111, Lakers lead.


Gerald Brooks’ run as owner of the Detroit Pistons, 40 years this season, has seen its share of highs and lows. When he decided to hire an uber successful General Manager, who had won 4 championships at his previous stops in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, he did it expecting greatness. Early returns were promising as well with 3 straight playoff trips, including an all-in attempt in year 3 that unfortunately ended at the Conference Finals. Even more unfortunately, that all-in season cost big in the tax which has continued to impact the team as they were almost certainly looking at a season that would be 5 years in a row without a playoff appearance.

Going into the night’s game against the Lakers, the Pistons were sitting at 1-17 and playing in front of a half-empty crowd. Brooks would be the first person to tell you that his patience, especially at 76 years old, had been growing thin. Who knows how many years he had left in charge of the team or even on this Earth. He liked his leadership team in the franchise, but he’d be lying if he hadn’t considered everything from coaching changes to hiring a new GM to changing mascots. Though there is excitement about the young talent that was finally beginning to accrue in Detroit, headlined by Myke Henry, he wanted to feel good about wins.

So, his heart sank as he watched young Myke Henry give it his all, pouring in 25 points and a slick go ahead layup moments earlier, before the Lakers’ Daniel Gamez hit a dagger of a 3 off a pass from Ben Franklin to take a 1-point lead.

With only 7 seconds left, he could feel the inevitable doom and gloom in the pit of his stomach. His throat tightened as Henry inbounded the ball to Cade Cunningham and the defense immediately collapsed on Henry, knowing that it was meant to be a quick give and go. Gerald bit his lip as Cunningham had no choice but to choose a different outlet and sent a pass into the post to Albert Kellerman, who had only played 12 minutes in the game. Kellerman appeared to be just as surprised as the rest of the Lakers’ roster initially, but as seconds ticked down, he turned to his right shoulder and put the ball barely over the outstretched hand of Mike Burnham.

IT WAS GOOD!

Gerald Brooks sent out a howl of glee that echoed off the empty owner’s box walls. After a wild heave/hail mary by Franklin missed badly, Brooks yelled again and clapped for his team.

2-17 never felt so good!

FINAL: 113 – 112, Pistons



8



1/6/2042

American Airlines Center
Dallas, TX

Brooklyn Nets vs. Dallas Mavericks

1:03 remaining in the 4th.

107-106, Mavericks leads.


Ja Morant has been around the block a few times. Now at age 35, and transitioning to a reserve role, he’s been able to gain a new perspective by watching more than he plays. Sometimes in his younger days, when there was more on his plate, he could get lost in the moment and not realize what was happening around him. That was not the case in the lead-up to tip-off against the Mavericks.

The moment that Kostas walked into the arena for treatment and shootaround, Ja could feel that something was different. Kostas was not a particularly vocal young man the previous season when they got to play together for the first time either, but he was stoic upon arrival that day. Focused and unmoved by the general joking around and bullshit that typically occurs in the locker room. During shootaround, Kostas patiently, methodically moved from spot to spot on the court to take his shots. Looked like he was the only one on the floor, even though more than half the team was there shooting as well.

In the locker room, Ja watched as Kostas sat quietly with his headphones on and nodded his head along to the music, eyes locked in ahead of him, staring at nothing, or everything. Feeling what could be brewing, Morant made sure to speak to Odell before the game, pointing out Kostas’ focus.

“We’re gonna wanna feed him tonight.”

Odell agreed, and so, they did. Repeatedly, Kostas would end possessions with the ball in his hands. He was in attack mode from the jump, going at every and any defender that the Mavericks could throw his way. No one was going to stop him from getting to the rim.

So, when the Nets still found themselves down by 1 point with about a minute left, there was nobody in the arena who had any doubt where the ball was going. Ja barely heard the fact that Ortega, Morley and Kuyekendall all called out the exact play that the Nets were going to run. He didn’t look out into the crowd, who were all pointing to Kostas. Hell, Ja didn’t even bother to yell any advice to Raspberry as he took the ball up the court to set the offense.

“Kos got us, man.”

The two-man game between Odell and Kostas didn’t fool anyone, but it still worked. It was willed into existence by Kostas’ presence. Faking a screen first, Kostas then dove to the rim where the ball was waiting for him off a bounce pass. And like Thanos, Kostas was inevitable.

49 points became 51, and a possible loss became a strong win.

When the final buzzer rang, Kostas’ focus didn’t let up. Morant rushed to him, slapping him on the chest, telling him “You’re a Fryeing animal!” and with the most confidence Morant had ever heard from the young Power Forward, Kostas replied.

“I Know.”

FINAL: 108 – 107, Nets



7



1/28/2042

Chesapeake Energy Arena
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Portland Trailblazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

1:08 remaining in the 4th quarter.

95 – 95.


“An unfortunate turn of events for our Thunder here after the missed shot by Lu Dort. OKC would have had the ball and a chance to take the lead, but as replay shows, the ball was last touched by Oturu.”

“Yeah, disappointing, Mark. This has been a grind of a game and every possession is going to matter.”

“Candelaria is going to inbound the ball here, let’s see if the Thunder choose to pressure the pass.”

“Soft pressure at best, as Jackson gets the inbound and immediately sends it into the post to the budding young star, Michael Sneed.”

“Nothing doing there, so Sneed sends the ball back out to early MVP candidate Lu Dort. Feels like that is where they would really want the ball anyways.”

“Dort is going to be a mega star in this league for a long time and so far this season, he has been playing as well as anyone. There’s almost nothing that he cannot do on a basketball court, though our guy, Zaire Wade, has been doing his best to make life difficult for him.”

“And he does a great job there of making Dort get rid of the ball, as he is forced to send it back out to Brooks Jackson.”

“This is a team full of capable scorers, evidence by how many points they put up per game.”

“Jackson slips the ball over to Patton on the left wing, who taps the ball back to the deep left wing to Dort, who ran to the spot as soon as he let go of the ball a few passes ago.”

“Wade is a step behind! Dort is pulling up from the corner …. GOT IT!”

“And the crowd has gone silent as Dort drops one in the bucket and takes the lead.”

“There’s still time left in this one, but that one really hurts.”

“Hard to be too upset when it’s a player as great as him, but it is very easy to feel disappointed. That is 18 points and 12 assists for him”

FINAL: 98 – 95, Blazers



6



11/10/2041

Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, IN

Denver Nuggets vs. Indiana Pacers

1:09 remaining in the 4th.

115-114, Pacers lead.


The binoculars were heavy in his hands and big on his face, and it made Tim feel like the kid in Jurassic Park before the T-Rex came and almost ate him. Irrational nerves bubbled up in his stomach at the thought of being swallowed up by a dinosaur. He shook it off, because like his dad always says, movies aren’t real. He can say confidently that he believes that about 65% of the time too!

Dad was sitting next to him, pointing out places for Tim to look at through the binoculars. He could see Robert Bonnett, the “son of a bitch” Nugget whom had made a shot which turned it into a one-point game. Then there was Mamadi Diakite, the only man that could make Dad leave Mom. Then the cheerleaders … who he was sure his Dad would not want him looking at for too long. But he had to anyways.

“Oh, here we go!”

He dad stood up, so Tim did as well, binoculars still attached to his face. Tim was still learning the game that his dad loved with all his heart. He couldn’t call out the names of the players on the other team or anything, so he just let his eyes dart across the court whenever the ball did. #15 had it first, dribbling slowly, which caused Dad to yell out for someone to “GET HIM!”. #15 passed the ball to #41, which seemed to REALLY stress Dad out because he let out a whimper like the dog whenever he wanted some of my chicken tenders. #41 turned with the ball and threw it across the court, I had to fly the binoculars over to where #14 was waiting, all by himself … which I knew couldn’t be good based by all the gasps in the people around me.

When #14’s shot made it, I heard my Dad say a bunch of words in a row. Some were ones I’d heard before and were told that I should never say. Others I wasn’t even quite sure were actually words, but they sounded very, very mean.

“FOX! NOOOOOO!”

I felt bad for everyone when the Pacers lost the game. Even worse for my Dad on the way home since I couldn’t stop humming “What Does the Fox Say” in the car.

FINAL: 116 – 115, Nuggets



5



2/17/2042

Madison Square Garden
New York City

Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks

1:44 remaining in Overtime.

120-120.


He was ready to get out of the costume in regulation. The Magic weren’t even at home tonight and yet he got talked into putting on the Stuff the Magic Dragon costume for a watch party at local Hooters. Under different circumstances, he might have enjoyed a trip to the restaurant for the … wings. But its kind of hard to properly enjoy the … wings … when you have to live inside of the sweatshop that is the mascot costume.

Outwardly, Stuff the Dragon was excited when the Knicks’ McIntyre missed the 2nd of 2 free throws that left it a tie game and sent it into overtime, but inwardly, he was cursing every God that he could think of, and swore that he would let McIntyre know exactly how much he sucks the next time he saw him!

The overtime meant just more time to watch balding dads hit on young waitresses, additional kids to kick him in the shin and a gallon more sweat to soak the inside and make the costume smell like … well … the inside of a large costume that has been drenched in sweat and left in the heat.

With the OT period dwindling down, and Mata sent a perfect pass into the waiting arms of Big Tex Harrison, Stuff the Magic Dragon showed his first genuinely happy emotion of the night. When the shot swished through the net, Stuff fell to his knees and entertained the crowd with his prayers.

And when the game ended, his hell began anew when he realized that he was needed for post-game photo ops too.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

FINAL: 123 – 122, Magic



4



3/14/2042

Golden 1 Center
Sacramento, CA

San Antonio Spurs vs. Sacramento Kings

0:39 left in the 4th quarter.

112-111, Kings lead.


MVP.

Playoff MVP.

All-Star.

All-League.

Champion.

Daniel Yandell has made a living of thriving in big moments. He loved to play against his old teammate Jonathan Lewis as well, and on that particular day, they were going at each other’s throats. 28 points for Lewis, 22 for Yandell. A see-saw battle if there ever was one. Yandell did not sweat or stress or worry. He was made for this. With 39 seconds left in the game, he lined up defensively, ready to take on the challenge of his old teammate. Down only 1, Yandell knew he had a little bit of leeway and could be aggressive. Lewis moved without the ball with Yandell acting as his shadow. Zigging, zagging, they mirrored each other until Lewis got the ball in the left corner.

Yandell attacked, like a shark smelling fresh blood in the water. He and Montoya trapped Lewis, and Yan took the ball away, immediately attacking the other direction, heading towards the basket. The defense pursued but he was faster, stronger, better.

Easily he went coast to coast, finishing with a thunderous breakaway SLAM!

The crowd died.

The Spurs lived.

FINAL: 113 – 112, Spurs



3



12/18/2041

United Center
Chicago, IL

New York Knicks vs. Chicago Bulls

1:19 remaining in the 4th.

123-122, Bulls lead.

It had not been easy being a Knicks fan in the last 16 years, but David Sandy had been trying his best to hold on. He was 12 years old when they won their last championship in 2023. When you’re that age and you see your favorite teams win, you are naïve enough to feel like you’ll get an opportunity to see it again and again in your lifetime. Unfortunately, now 30 years old, harsh reality had set in and the truth had been revealed.

Though David is not able to go to games often anymore now that he does not live in New York, he does not miss a game on television, even throughout all the frustration and losing. He often equates it to being in a toxic relationship. He’d break up with them for sure, but, I mean, his CD’s are still in their car!

Going into the game against the Bulls, one of the gold standard teams in the league, David was not expecting much. Sure, his Knicks were sitting at 15-11 and they were playing good basketball for the first time in a long time, but road wins were still scarce and Delmar Lopez is nightmare fuel, evidence by the dime he had just dropped to Burt Gibson that sent the Bulls up by 1 in the final minute and a half.

But, hell, a 1-point game this late against THAT team? David could sense some damn light at the end of a dark ass tunnel. He sat up in his seat, inching closer to the television. His hands clasped tightly together, sweat dripping down the sides of them. Breathing seems difficult, like he had been the one playing. Might have been the edibles kicking in though, it was hard to tell. Those were supposed to help keep him calm!

The inbound pass was followed by consecutive passes around the perimeter, just as set-up for whatever offense they’d run. David remains silent, though internally he is yelling coaching points the entire time.

GET IT TO BYE!

SET THE SCREEN!

SWING IT OUTSIDE!

The first shot clanked off the rim!

David muffled a Frye!

The Knicks grabbed the offensive rebound.

Immediately another shot goes up but its blocked!

SHIT!
OH!
WAIT!

Another offensive rebound!

The sweat dripped from his forehead as well as his hands.

Michael Evan got both hands around the rebound and without bringing the ball back down, he leapt towards the basket and put the Knicks over the Bulls!

GODDAMMIT!

David jumped up from his chair and loudly clapped his hands, sending the sweat from his palms splattering back into his face and eyes, the saltiness stinging.

Frye!

Worth it.

FINAL: 124 – 123, Knicks



2



11/21/2041

Amway Center
Orlando, FL

Chicago Bulls vs. Orlando Magic

0:16 remaining in the 4th.

112 – 112.

“For our first main topic today, we ask, how big was this game and how unlikely a hero was Justin Todd?”

“It could end up being a massive game, honestly. Look at the Alpha conference. The Magic were sitting at only 2 losses coming into this game and the Bulls were off to a surprisingly slow start. Acclimating the roster to a powerhouse like Delmar Lopez has not been easy.”

“Agreed.”

“This was Orlando’s chance to grab onto this lead and strange it into submission. Yes, I know its early in the season, but this was an opportunity to make a statement and maybe plant some seeds of doubt into Delmar and the Bulls. Unfortunately for them, with 16 seconds left in the game, they were caught off-guard by the Bulls’ secret weapon … Justin Todd.”

“Who had only played how many minutes in the game to that point?”

“He only played 12 minutes in the entire game. Not even sure he knew why he was out there at that moment!”

“I sure as hell didn’t! And it came at a time when the Magic had all of the momentum too. At the 4:55 mark, the Magic were down by 9 points right? Then consecutive baskets by Big Tex, Ronnie Reynolds, Mata and Lynch tied the game with 57 seconds. Felt like they finally grabbed control of everything.”

“The play started like you’d imagine. Gibson got the early touch and then the ball swung over to Silky. From there, I think the entire arena assumed Lopez or Gibson were going to get the rock and they got that type of attention from the defense. Including Pastor, who shaded to the wing to stop one of those two instead of focusing on Todd, who got the ball for an easy 2.”

“That crowd didn’t know what the hell just happened, did it?”

“Absolutely not. And now, the Magic will have to live with that mistake after giving the Bulls more confidence and momentum. That division is going to come down to the wire and I bet that game will be looked at as the turning point.”

FINAL: 114 – 112, Bulls.



1


12/26/2041

Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Los Angeles Clippers

0:10 remaining in the 4th.

109 – 108, Clippers lead.


Since taking over General Manager responsibilities for the Clippers, I have seen a lot of greatness. Up close I have obviously gotten the opportunity to watch Boban and Sabo and BDJ and JJ and Loredo now. That is not meant to slight some of my favorite players, like Michael Garvin and Terry Sterner. But I’ve also gotten to see my guys go up against the best of the best. Delmar Lopez, BDJ, Yandell, Burt Gibson, Mitchell Robinson, OG, and the list goes on and on.

James Wiseman belongs on that list.

A couple of seasons ago, we had the unfortunate responsibility of trying to get past his 76ers in the playoffs and they torched us with relative ease. While the pieces around him have been very good, the squad only goes as he does. So, whenever you can get the better of him, it feels great.

With seconds left in this rowdy home game, Jordan Johnson shot up and over Wiseman to take the lead and send the crowd roaring to life. Ready to exorcise some demons from that playoff series, I felt alive. I could see the determination in the eyes of our guys. They wanted it, could taste it. What I wasn’t looking for was the determination in Wiseman’s eyes … and when he put in that buzzer beater with no time remaining to steal one in Los Angeles, I could feel a cold chill run down my spine.

Pearman was a great help to him, which hurt even more since he felt we were SO CLOSE to trading for him in the off-season. But ultimately it was Wiseman’s heroics that won the day. I respect that man to no end.

And even though we have won two games against them since then (with another on the way), one by 3 in OT and another by 1 on the road, this one sticks in my crawl. I can feel another playoff battle on the horizon … and that wouldn’t be an easy one.

We’ll need our guys to be ready for more big moments.

FINAL: 110 – 109, 76ers.








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[MexicanMamba]

+10

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[RPF]

man that was some good shit to read