Home Basketball Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan was just not named the game’s most clutch player

Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan was just not named the game’s most clutch player

Basketball — 04/26/2024

The Chicago Bulls have now finished in second place for two consecutive major postseason awards this week.

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After Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey was named Most Improved Player, and DeMar DeRozan was almost named Clutch Player of the Year, but he lost out to Stephen Curry of the Warriors.

With 298 points (45 first-place votes, 18 second-place votes, and 19 third-place votes), Curry won the Jerry West trophy in the award’s second year. DeRozan scored 272 points, including 34 first-place votes, 27 second-place votes, and 21 third-place votes.

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After Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat and De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings, DeRozan placed third in last season’s standings. By the way, if the award had begun in 2021–22, DeRozan would have been a sure bet.

Following the nominations made by NBA head coaches, DeRozan’s chances of winning the media vote remained high. The third contender was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

When the game was on the brink of overtime or in the last five minutes of regulation, Curry put up an NBA-best 189 points in clutch situations. When it came to clutch field goals (59) and clutch three-pointers (32) made by league players, Curry was in first place. In the final seconds, Curry made all five of his field goal attempts (49.6%), three-point attempts (45.7%), and free throw attempts (95.1%).

DeRozan set a team record with 56 points in OT and led the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring with 550. He had 182 clutch points, good for second place, with a clutch shooting percentage of 48.7 percent. He was second in the NBA in clutch field goals made, behind only Steph Curry, and first in clutch free throws made.The fact that DeRozan’s Bulls led the NBA in clutch minutes, overtime victories, and clutch victories overall worked to his advantage.

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Not only did the Warriors go 24-24 in key games, but DeRozan was plus-94 and Curry was plus-21; the Bulls, on the other hand, were 27-17.

“I just always try to relish the big moments of the game,” DeRozan stated in an interview towards the end of the season. I love watching football. Even when I was a little kid, I would watch the quarterbacks during the 2-minute drill with great interest. When it came to basketball, I attempted to adopt that mentality.

It’s not the first time I’ve brought up boxing. Mentally and emotionally, championship rounds are at a whole new level. Whenever possible, I aim to focus my efforts on those times. At that point, the game becomes really sluggish for me. After three quarters of the way through, you will have absorbed all the information you require. In the final quarter, it becomes more like a chess game. And that’s the moment I want to seize every time.