Who Are Your Top 10 Game Winning Shot Players?

kobe

wade

allen

mason

fisher

nash

ginobili

terry

harris

crawford

10: Danny Granger

9: Dwight Howard ( Remember 06-07? alley-oop Slam Against The Spurs? )

8: Derek Fisher

7: Tim Duncan:

6: Kobe Bryant:

5: Rashard lewis

4: Ray allen

3: Joe Johnson

2: Brandon Roy

1: hedo turkoglu,.

Hope i helped Peace!

Michael Jordan Larry Bird Magic Johnson Wilt Chamberlin Kareem Abdul Jabaar Olajuwun Kobe Bryant Bill Russell DJ Mbenga

I would put Fisher ahead of Jamal Crawford. Fish hit that 0.4 second shot in like 3 peat days, and against the Hornets on Friday he sent the game into overtime with a 3 pointer.

Game Winning Shot Opportunity = 24 seconds or less left in the game, team with the ball is either tied or down by 1 to 2 points.

Why use this definition?

With 24 seconds or less, then it truly is a "last possession" situation potentially

With a margin from tied to down 2, the team can take the lead with a made basket (including 3's)

By excluding a down 3 situation, we don't have the "gimme two point buckets" that defenses will sometimes yield to the quick bucket/intentional foul strategy option you often see exercised.

Obviously though this definition means a shot may not actually be a game winner -- it may only tie a game (if down two points) or it may allow enough time for the opponents to get a game winning shot of their own. Still it seems a reasonable compromise.

Data sample

Regular Seasons: '03-04, '04-05, '05-06, '06-07, '07-08, '08-09 (thru 2/4)

Playoffs: '03-04, '04-05, '05-06, '06-07, '07-08

So we're looking at five full regular and playoff seasons, with additionally the current 08-09 season so far.

The first thing to note is that these types of shots are very difficult on a league wide basis: a .298 Field Goal percentage doesn't exactly inspire confidence!

Part of this is that game winning chances may come with just a couple of seconds or less remaining in the game from the inbounds. So manufacturing any shot at all in some cases is to the player's credit. In some cases it can even be a half court heave!

LeBron James was just 4-19 in our previous look at game winning shots, so in the ensuing two and a half seasons, he has come up with a very respectable 13-31 (.419) record and just the other day had a pure game winner at the buzzer to top the Warriors. In addition he has six assists and a healthy number of free throws earned.

Vince Carter doesn't get a lot of love from fans for the most part but is actually #2 in the standings for most game winners over this period.

Ray Allen is in third overall but also leads in most 3's made under our game winning defined situation specifics, with eight three pointers. Long live the NBA's arguably best pure shooter (Ray also currently leads the NBA in Midrange 2pt FG%).

...and then we get to Kobe Bryant. Kobe fans don't like to hear it, but while their man is #4 in the league in total game winners hit, he holds the top spot in a less glamorous category: most game winning opportunity missed shots!

42 - Kobe

35 - Vince Carter

33 - Joe Johnson, LeBron

32 - Crawford

31 - Billups

Now we're not Kobe haters by any means and I will readily give him his due as one of the best NBA players (note however, I didn't say the best) but he certainly has an overblown reputation when it comes to the clutch shot: people remember the ones he hits, but not the ones he misses, and heck you think a 56 FGA to 1 assist ratio might be part of the problem? He does have a better record in the playoffs though, which we'll get to down below.

Carmelo Anthony has slipped from the former top spot, but still a worthy challenger with the best fg% of any player with at least 10 makes.

Beyond that, you see a lot of familiar names, most with low success rates, and a lot of players with very low assists.

Paul Pierce is an exception as he stands at the head of the class for 'game winning assists' with nine, ahead of Nash, Kidd, Billups, and the rest.

Oy! you say, what about the up and comers who may not have been playing all that long? Obviously Chris Paul (8-21), Igoudala (8-22), and Bradon Roy (7-19) are climbing the charts rapidly. Let's do a quick tab of the season by season leaders (fgm-fga):

'03-04

Stoudamire 5-9

J.Rose 4-4

Yao 4-7

Carter 4-11

R.Allen 3-5

Z.Randolph 3-5

Redd 3-8

'04-05

Iverson 5-7

Francis 5-8

P.J. Brown (!) 4-6

B.Gordon 4-7

Da.Jones 4-7

Pierce 4-9

Wade 4-11

'05-06

Carmelo 7-10

Gasol 6-9

R.Allen 5-11

J.Johnson 5-16

Fisher 4-6

Crawford 4-8

Webber 4-9

'06-07

R.Lewis 5-7

B.Gordon 5-14

R.Davis 4-8

Carter 4-9

Paul 4-9

'07-08

LeBron 6-14

T.Outlaw 5-5

Ginobili 3-4

R.Allen 3-7

'08-09

Granger 5-7

Roy 4-7

R.Mason 3-3

Durant 3-8

Felton 3-8

Now let's turn back to giving Kobe fans the ammunition they need to continue telling us how Mr. Bryant is the most uber-clutch guy in the NBA...with a look at Playoff Game Winning Shots

Kobe Bryant 4-8

LeBron James 4-8

Dirk Nowitzki 3-6

Dwyane Wade 2-2

Caron Butler 2-3

Gilbert Arenas 2-5

Tim Duncan 2-6

Manu Ginobili 2-6

Chauncey Billups 2-9

So now you have select company with only eight players, all of them all stars, with at least two makes. And yes, Kobe Bryant is indeed tied for first and with an excellent .500 percentage as well.

The truth seems to be that while we want to believe in the infallible hero who comes through every time, in the NBA even the brightest of the bunch are lucky to come through one out of three times.

Ultimately though while this kind of thing is fun, it's

well theres devin harris carter has hitten some arenas has hitten buzzer beaters theres fisher roger mason jr hedo wade kobe in 4th quarter not necessarily for the game winner last shot type thing crawford alot others

1.Hedo

2.Dirk Nowitzki-he' damn clutch

3.Ray Allen

4.Dwayne Wade

5.Tim Duncan

6.Brandoy Roy

7.Vince Carter

8.Derick Fisher

9.Mike Bibby

10.Robert Horry

1 = Kobe. not a kobe fan but he has always been the most clutch in game winning situations

Devin Harris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ_lQXTzL4o

kobe is the best and where is Mr. Big Shot!!

No Arenas?