Brooklyn Nets revealed as NBA’s most clutch team this season
The Brooklyn Nets had a hectic start to the season filled with injuries, a coaching turnover and the eight-game suspension of All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. However, they appear to have put all of that behind them.
The team is currently on a six-game winning streak and have won 10 of their last 11 games.
One stat in particular related to the Nets’ performance as a team has also led to some extra optimism regarding Brooklyn’s status as true contenders. The Brooklyn Nets are reportedly leading the entire NBA in clutch winning percentage this season at 78.6%.
The Nets have the best winning % in the NBA this season in the clutch
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The NBA defines clutch-time as the final five minutes of games where the score is within five points. Their winning percentage in the clutch means that the Nets are pulling out victories in almost all of their close games.
This includes Brooklyn’s last two wins over the Toronto Raptors and the Detroit Pistons, both by a margin of just three points. The Toronto game in particular ended with a clutch buzzer-beating stepback 3-pointer from Kyrie Irving.
These types of clutch performances are likely what the Nets’ front office envisioned when they paired Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant together in 2019.
Both Irving and Durant are well known to be some of the best tough shot-makers in the league come crunch time. The former is currently leading the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring this season at 8.3 points per game. Meanwhile, KD has been extremely effective down the stretch as well.
Now, it will just be a matter of whether Brooklyn can keep this up for the remainder of the season and come playoff time. If they can, they will likely have a real shot at winning the Eastern Conference.
Following their recent success, Brooklyn is sitting at 19-12 and fourth in the East. They will face a tough test over their next four games against the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.
The Nets’ matchups against Milwaukee and Cleveland in particular should help gauge how they stack up against the other top teams in the East.
Also read: NBA fans go wild as Kyrie Irving hits ridiculous buzzer-beating for Brooklyn Nets: "Kyrie the f***ing goat man let's go", "Curry can't do this"
Can Kevin Durant win MVP if the Brooklyn Nets finish with a top seed in the East?
Another interesting narrative to follow over the coming weeks will be Kevin Durant’s MVP case.
Durant has only won one MVP throughout his illustrious 15-year career and that came back in 2014 when he was with the OKC Thunder. Almost nine years later, KD is playing arguably the best basketball of his career at the age of 34.
He has averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game on a career-high 56.5% shooting through 30 games this season. Over his last 10 games, Durant’s scoring is up even more to 32.7 points per game on a hyper-efficient 63.3/43.8/95.1 shooting split.
The Brooklyn Nets are also now just 3.5 games behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the best record in the entire league. If Brooklyn keeps winning, nothing may stop Durant from winning his second MVP.
Also read: Kyrie Irving in awe of Kevin Durant after milestone night