The Most Clutch NBA Playoff Performers of the Past 10 Years

The NBA Playoffs are in full swing, and along with that inevitably comes a host of outstanding individual performances. With games as closely-contested as they are, teams’ star players will inevitably end up with the ball in their hands in the most pivotal situations.

We are fortunate to be in an era where there are often many Hall-of-Fame-bound stars involved in every single game, which virtually guarantees us that someone will be incorporating another feat into his résumé every day. Whether it’s LeBron James, Tim Duncan, or Dirk Nowitzki, someone adds another remarkable effort to his long list of on-court accomplishments in basically every game.

These previous 10 full playoff years (so, including 2004) have given us an incredible array of highlights and amazing moments. The game’s biggest stars—and even a few role players—have emerged on the biggest stage and delivered incredible performances for their teams, winning championships and defining their legacies as players. These are the best of the best, the Most Clutch NBA Playoff Performers of the Past 10 Years.

Jason Terry does not have the most decorated playoff history, but he has played in a surprisingly large amount of big games and has found a way to deliver in pretty much all of them. He was instrumental in the Mavericks’ 2011 title run, averaging 17.5 points per game off the bench and shooting an unconscious .478 from the field.

In particular, JET helped finish off the Lakers with a Game 4 performance for the ages in the Western Conference Semifinals, helping Dallas open up a 24-point halftime lead with a second quarter avalanche of three-pointers and putting the game away at the start of the third with treys on consecutive possessions. He ended up tying an NBA playoff record with nine made threes, going 11-for-14 overall from the field in just 25 minutes of action.

He again came up huge in the clinching Game 6 of the Finals, scoring 27 points on 11-for-16 shooting while Dirk Nowitzki struggled to find his stroke. Indeed, Terry very well could have been named Finals MVP for his steady performance all series long, as he averaged 18.0 points per game and shot a strong .494 percentage from the field.

While Tim Duncan has been the steady behind the Spurs’ run of success, Manu Ginobili has pitched in with his share of clutch plays. Even as he has aged, he has managed to keep himself fresh enough to hit a host of huge shots, most recently his game-winning overtime three in Game 1 of the 2013 Western Conference Semifinals last year and his now-forgotten bank shot to give the Spurs the lead in the Vince Carter game last week.

In particular, Ginobili finds a way to get it done in the Spurs’ title-clinching games. In the Spurs’ two title-winning games in the last decade, Manu went for 23-5-4 in 2005 and 27-5-3 in 2007, helping his team lock up two more rings.

Of course, Robert Horry did not play a featured role in the last decade. However, his performance in the 2005 Finals was enough to sneak him onto the list. “Big Shot Rob” was in full effect in Detroit, despite the fact that he was no longer quite the athlete he used to be. With the Spurs staring down a 3-2 series deficit and struggling against the Detroit defense in the fourth quarter, an at-that-point-scoreless Horry decided he had had enough.

He then went on an absolute scoring barrage, throwing down a hellacious dunk on Richard Hamilton and punctuating a 21-point outburst by hitting a three with 5.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Spurs a 96-95 win. He even scored 15 points in the Spurs’ Game 7 win for good measure, securing his legacy as one of the greatest playoff performers in history.

Shaquille O’Neal’s career is a fascinating one, because even though he won four NBA titles and three Finals MP awards, in a weird way it felt like he left something on the table. When putting forth maximum effort (which wasn’t all that often other than during the playoffs), Shaq could dominate literally anybody in the NBA.

Even as he aged and his body began to break down, Shaq could still bring it in the postseason. He was instrumental in Miami’s 2006 title run, ceding the alpha status to Dwyane Wade but nevertheless providing a very steady presence inside. Despite a quiet Finals, Shaq was the best player on the floor in Miami’s series-clinching Game 6 win in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons, as he scored 28 points on a ridiculous 12-of-14 shooting while also grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking five shots.

Derek Fisher just barely squeezed onto this list, thanks in large part to his epic “0.4” play exactly 10 years ago. The degree of difficulty with that shot—and the incredible momentum it provided—makes it one of the iconic moments in NBA playoff history, and will forever be the defining moment in Fisher’s playoff career.

But we won’t totally ignore Fish’s other playoff moments; his 2007 performance the day his daughter had surgery to treat eye cancer was one the most emotional efforts we’ve seen in recent years, and in 2009 he hit a couple huge threes to give the Lakers a Game 4 victory over the Magic in the NBA Finals. He was the unsung hero of those Lakers title teams, providing stable veteran leadership in a volatile environment and masterfully orchestrating a triangle offense that likely limited Fisher’s statistical output.

Before he landed with the Celtics for the 2007-08 season, Kevin Garnett was dogged by the unfair perception that he shied away from the big moment and came up small in important games. Most evidence would fail to support that claim; KG was a monster for Minnesota, single-handedly carrying them to the 2004 Western Conference Finals and averaging 23.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per game against the Lakers before bowing out in six hard-fought games.

Once he arrived in Boston and could share the load with fellow All-Stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Garnett thrived without the constant double-teams. He averaged a 20-10 as the Celtics charged to a championship, and was the best player in the Celtics’ Game 6 dismantling of the Lakers that secured the title as KG registered 26 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals, one block, and one “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!”

If you asked most people to identify the key player to the Lakers’ two post-Shaq championships, most would say Kobe Bryant. And while it’s true Kobe was great on both teams, neither the 2009 nor 2010 Lakers would have won rings without the steady play of Pau Gasol. The Spaniard was terrific in both postseasons, posting an 18-10 every night and shooting a remarkable .580 from the field in 2009, then following that up in 2010 with a 19-11 average.

The biggest reason he is on the list, though, is his performance in the Lakers’ dramatic Game 7 victory in the 2010 Finals. With Celtics’ center Kendrick Perkins out with a torn ACL and Kobe Bryant struggling through a 6-for-24 shooting night, Gasol stepped up in a major way by scoring 19 points and (more importantly) owning the glass as he grabbed nine offensive rebounds and 18 in all. He was a terror on the boards all series, averaging 5.0 offensive rebounds per game and by all accounts should have been the Finals MVP.

Even if he had never had another big playoff moment, Ray Allen’s place on this list would be secure thanks to his series-saving shot in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals. For almost any other NBA player, the degree of difficulty would have made the shot virtually impossible to make. For Allen—the man who has made more three pointers than anyone in NBA history—no shot from deep is “impossible,” no matter how many defenders swarm him or where he is on the floor.

Allen has had his share of playoff moments beforehand, too, including a record-setting performance in Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Finals in which he hit eight threes, a better single-game total than anyone else in Finals history. Of all players who have attempted at least 500 threes in the playoffs, Allen and Derek Fisher are locked in a virtual tie for the best percentage of all-time, making just over 40 percent each.

Chauncey Billups did not earn the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” by only scoring in the first three quarters. No, Billups took an above average career and made it into a borderline-Hall of Fame one by hitting multiple huge shots when it mattered most. When you have enough playoff highlights to make a full top ten list, you know you’ve done something special.

Billups provided the Pistons with incredible backcourt stability, and was really the anchor of their championship run and multiple Eastern Conference Finals trips. He has always found a way to elevate his scoring in the playoffs, averaging 17.3 points per game for his career, a number that climbs to 18.2 if you exclude his 10 games as a role player. His strong 2004 Finals (21.0 points and 5.2 assists per game) earned him the Finals MVP award and cemented his status as a go-to guy in the playoffs.

There was a lot of concern about the playoff legacy of Dirk Nowitzki when he followed up a collapse in the 2006 Finals (where he shot just .387 from the field in Dallas’ four losses) with a poor performance in the Mavericks’ shocking first round defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors in 2007. Dirk scored just eight points in Game 6, when his team lost by 25 points and became the subject of much scorn for an entire offseason.

However, those two poor stretches are pretty much the only ones Dirk has experienced in a playoff career otherwise loaded with success stories. He was the MVP of the 2011 Finals after a series in which he averaged 26.0 points per game, delivering Dallas their first championship and forever exorcising any 2006/2007-related demons.

To fully grasp Dirk’s place in playoff history, think about this: of anyone to play at least 50 postseason games over the course of his career, Nowitzki has the seventh-best PER ever.

“Flash” may now be something closer to “Flashes,” but Dwyane Wade is still one of the great playoff performers in recent NBA history. His three game stretch against the Mavericks in the 2006 Finals—where he scored 42, 36, and 43 points in Games 3 through 5, respectively—remains one of the top stretches of any player in the Finals over the last 20 years.

More than that, Wade’s recent playoff performances have proven that he is a gamer. Despite battling through regular seasons shortened by injuries and team-mandated rest, Wade has been able to elevate his game in the playoffs. He’s a lock for 30-plus minutes every night, and averages 20.9 points per game in the Big Three Era despite seeing his average shot attempts per game fall by two or more.

Paul Pierce’s playoff record is actually quite extensive, and although he’s certainly always been considered a step below the game’s biggest stars, he has come up big throughout his career. His duel with LeBron James in Game 7 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals was eerily reminiscent of Larry Bird's showdown with Dominique Wilkins 20 years earlier, and just as before the Celtics rode their star's performance to a huge win. He would, of course, go on to win Finals MVP just a few weeks later.

Even though he’s getting a bit old these days, “The Truth” can still get it done in crunch time. Just ask the Toronto Raptors, who barely over a week ago saw Pierce hit one of his signature free throw line fadeaways to ice Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series against the Nets.

Kobe Bryant has had his fair share of magical playoff moments. He’s buried buzzer beaters (like the game-winner in 2006 against the Suns), won Finals MVP trophies, and hit absurd shots to either tie the game or give his team a lead. Much like in the regular season, Bryant is unafraid of the big moment and, even sometimes to his detriment, demands the ball with the game on the line.

He’s logged almost three full seasons worth of playoff games (220), posting a lifetime average of 25.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game, and has proven that he can win titles both with Shaq (three) and without him (two). Kobe has hit plenty of huge shots in the postseason, and almost every time the other team knew he was getting the ball but remained powerless to stop him. That, right there, is a true measure of greatness.

The narrative has swung wildly from “LeBron James is a choker” to “LeBron is clutch” several times, but thanks to back-to-back championships and a host of incredible performances, it seems as if we’ve finally reached a consensus on LeBron’s playoff résumé. Simply put, the guy is an absolute beast.

Of anyone who has played in at least 30 playoff games over the last decade, James has easily the highest PER, most minutes played, most points, second-most rebounds, most assists, and most steals. His 48 against the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals was probably the decade’s best individual playoff performance, at least until James’ 45-15-5 against the Celtics in 2012. With the Heat on a march towards a staggering fourth Finals appearance in a row, it seems a certainty that we’ve got more LeBron magic ahead of us.

There’s nothing flashy about Tim Duncan or his game, except for one thing: the shine of four championship rings. The Big Fundamental has been a playoff superstar throughout his career, and even as he has aged over the last decade has nevertheless managed to put up big numbers in the postseason.

His penchant for shocking late-game buckets (like the hoop that set up Derek Fisher’s 0.4 shot or his three-pointer in Game 1 of the 2008 Western Conference Quarterfinals) has become an underrated aspect of his career, and the fact that he’s so steady has somewhat overshadowed his incredible clutch plays.

Most recently, he put up 25 points in the first half and 30 points/17 rebounds overall in San Antonio’s heartbreaking Game 6 loss to Miami in last year’s Finals. If they had simply grabbed one of those infamous loose balls, Duncan would have won another Finals MVP trophy, a fifth ring, and added to his legacy as one of the all-time playoff greats.