Latest news with #clutch
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ray, Koss shine as Giants beat D-backs to end losing streak
Ray discusses how clutch Koss has been at the plate this season Giants starter Robbie Ray speaks to reporters after San Francisco's 10-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night at Oracle discusses how clutch Koss has been at the plate this season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Pacers built up — and around — Tyrese Haliburton, and Knicks can vouch that it's worked
NEW YORK — The ball pounds off the pavement, a true bounce if you've avoided the crack in the driveway. Dribble left. Dribble right. Step back. Three … two … one … (buzzer sound). Who grew up playing basketball and didn't run through that same scenario, at home or the local playground, over and over again, with a make-believe championship riding on whether the shot went in? Advertisement Tyrese Haliburton, like every other basketball player on Earth, used to run through the same drill as a child growing up in Oshkosh, Wisc. The Indiana Pacers star said he used to pretend a game was on the line in the hallway of his childhood house — he'd dribble a pretend ball or maybe a sock, with time running down and a 'game' on the line. Haliburton's practicing such shots is paying off. He has two game winners so far in the 2025 NBA playoffs and an improbable, one for the ages, game-tying shot at the end of regulation in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks on Wednesday. But Haliburton's most valuable clutch practice wasn't at his house. It was in just about every NBA arena he visited in his first two seasons with Indiana when the team stunk — and the Pacers gave him the chance to shoot late shots in the hope that one day the real-world experience would pay off. 'To be honest with you, when I got traded here, we weren't very good,' Haliburton said after his 31-point, 11-assist, Reggie-Miller-choke-hold performance in the Pacers' 138-135 win in Game 1 over the Knicks. 'And so we would be in these moments where I would have to take a few shots, and I would miss them, and nobody would care,' Haliburton said. 'Well, maybe Pacers fans would — but we weren't very good, so it didn't matter. We weren't a playoff team or anything. So I feel like (it was) baptism by fire, almost, to do that, and then now we're in these situations where obviously they matter on a bigger scale, I think is important to me.' The Pacers shifted the direction of their franchise at the 2022 trade deadline when they sent All-Star center Domantas Sabonis and others to the Sacramento Kings for a package that centered around Haliburton. Indiana is now in the Eastern Conference finals for the second consecutive year, and hold a 1-0 lead over the Knicks, because the Pacers both built Haliburton up and also built around him with complementary players who could execute a style that is best suited for Haliburton's skill set. The results are obvious and astounding. Advertisement In the aftermath of the Pacers' stunning comeback against the Knicks in which Indiana trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter and sent it to overtime on Haliburton's stepback 2-pointer at the buzzer (he was trying to shoot a 3 but his big toe was barely on the 3-point line) that hit the back of the rim, soared into the sky, and fell softly through the hoop, the analytics web site Opta Analyst published a study that suggested Haliburton was one of the best clutch players in the NBA this century. The study showed that Haliburton's .564 effective field goal percentage in 184 'clutch' games — the score is within six points in the last five minutes of regulation or overtime — is the eighth-best in the last 25 years, but No. 1 among All-Stars. The site also said Haliburton's nearly four-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio in the clutch is easily the best among any All-Star. The day the Pacers traded for Haliburton, they were in 13th place in the East at 19-37, and in his first full season the following year Indiana finished 35-47 and in 11th place. For that first full season with the Pacers in 2022-23, Haliburton appeared in 35 'clutch' games and shot 40 percent from the field (31 percent from 3-point range). He averaged nearly one assist to 0.1 turnovers in those situations, and the Pacers won 20 of the games. So he might have missed his fair share of clutch shots, but even then, he was making enough to have an impact on winning. What Haliburton has done in the Pacers' playoff run so far is reminiscent of a LeBron James-heyday performance in the clutch. Haliburton won Game 5 of the Pacers' first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks on a drive to the hoop, and Game 2 in the conference semis against the Cleveland Cavaliers on a stepback 3-pointer. Against the Knicks, the ball was in Haliburton's hands with about seven seconds remaining and the Pacers trailing by two. Haliburton dribbled past the 3-point line and tried to step back behind it for a game-winning shot, but his toe didn't quite clear the line. He didn't know that at the time, and so when his shot bounded toward the heavens before falling through the hoop, he hit the Miller choke celebration from past Pacers-Knicks playoff series, thinking he'd won the game. The shot and the pose are what people talked about all day on Thursday, but the reality is Haliburton has been very good in these situations for virtually his entire five-year career. Advertisement 'I think that the biggest thing for me is I already have the confidence to take the shot in the moment,' Haliburton said. 'I have that confidence from my group. My group helps me to take those shots, my coaches, staff helps me take those shots. I think our organization wants me to take the shots. I think now we're at the point where my fans help me take that shot. I think everybody's living and dying with it at that point. That gives me a lot of confidence.' 'He's our maestro,' Pacers star forward Pascal Siakam said. 'He has the ball, he is putting us in position, and at those times he wants the ball in his hands and we want the ball in his hands.' Haliburton is one of the fastest players in the NBA and is a perennial assists leader (or close to it). So, stylistically, it would make sense for the Pacers to surround him with similarly fast players who can catch his passes off of drives and shoot 3s — which is precisely the roster Indiana has at present. But on Wednesday, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle advanced the idea of building around Haliburton further when he said achieving that goal was how the Pacers wound up with a team capable of pressing its opponent for most of the game on defense, a factor in all the Pacers' huge comebacks this postseason. 'As we've put this group together around Tyrese, we've had to make adjustments to develop a style that was effective for us,' Carlisle said. 'It's a difficult style, you know, it's demanding, physically demanding, takes a tremendous amount of wherewithal as an athlete and then you got to be super unselfish.' Andrew Nembhard, the guard playing next to Haliburton, is usually the point man on the Pacers' full-court press. Aaron Nesmith, who like Nembhard is a rugged wing defender, shot and made six consecutive 3s in the fourth quarter on Wednesday (an NBA playoff record). When the Pacers traded for Siakam last season, he was viewed as the perfect yang to Haliburton's yin, as an athletic four who can push the pace offensively. The Pacers use these weapons — and then some — to stage their comebacks, and then they have, statistically, one of the NBA's most ruthless closers to finish the game with a big shot. That's how they built around Haliburton — for the very situations in which the Pacers are now thriving. Advertisement 'We're a team that's very reliant on one another,' Carlisle said. 'Our style is a style where the sum of the parts is greater than the individuals.' But then he mentioned the Pacers have 'great individual players,' too, and he surely counted Haliburton chief among them. Who else would he have take the last shot? (Photo 0f Tyrese Haliburton: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
Forbes
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Pacers Pairing Conventional Wisdom With Improbability In NBA Finals Pursuit
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 10: Tyrese Haliburton #0 of the Indiana Pacers reacts after his made ... More three-point basket against the New York Knicks during the second quarter in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Second Round Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on May 10, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by) The Indiana Pacers have become the kings of clutch. It's a superpower that saved them again in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The visitors trailed the New York Knicks by 14 with under three minutes remaining. Teams up at least that much in the final 2:50 of the fourth quarter or overtime of a postseason tilt in the play-by-play era were 977-0, per Nate Duncan of Dunc'd On Prime. What came next was a Madison Square Garden miracle, much to the chagrin of a raucous home crowd. Aaron Nesmith turned clean looks from beyond the arc into shots that quickly shaved New York's lead. The Knicks' offense turned cold at the other end of the floor. Even opportunities at the free-throw line rimmed out. After OG Anunoby went 1/2 at the charity stripe, only extending the hosts' advantage to 125-123, with 7.1 seconds left, Tyrese Haliburton drove downhill. Mikal Bridges poked at the ball, forcing the Pacers' star to retreat behind the three-point line. His last-second shot ricocheted off the rim, hung in the air, then splashed through the net. Haliburton thought he had followed Reggie Miller's footsteps, handing the Knicks an improbable loss at the Garden. Like the latter, in attendance on the TNT broadcast, he gave the choke signal to the crowd. Except Haliburton's foot was on the line, meaning New York could salvage its late-game collapse. Fortunately for Indiana, the visitors quickly regrouped after initially thinking they had already pulled off a remarkable comeback. New York registered the first four points of the fifth frame before five straight points from Andrew Nembhard. The third-year guard scored seven points in overtime, the most of any participant. There was also an Obi Toppin put-back slam and another flush from Toppin after an Anunoby turnover. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns had chances to tie the game in the closing seconds, but their threes were off the mark. The Pacers prevailed, stealing the series opener, 138-135. Since 1997-98, teams are 4-1,640 when trailing by at least seven points in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime in the playoffs, per Esfandiar Baraheni of The Athletic. Indiana has three of those wins -- in this postseason. "It's always special. It's always fun," said Nesmith after the win, per WISH-TV News. "This is what we live for; this is what we work every day for." Tom Haberstroh of the Substack noted Haliburton is an astonishing 12 of 14 on shots to tie or take the lead in the final two minutes this season. The Pacers needed his late-game heroics and Nesmith's shot-making and hounding defense against Jalen Brunson. However, this exemplified a team win. Toppin and Nembhard's contributions were crucial. So were the 17 points and six assists they got from Pascal Siakam. The same goes for T.J. McConnell's and Bennedict Mathurin's combining for 19 points off the bench. That highlights what makes this Indiana team so special. Head coach Rick Carlisle regularly deploys a 10-player rotation. Sometimes, he'll extend that even further, adding Jarace Walker to the mix. The NBA playoffs have become more of a war of attrition than ever. The Pacers' approach allows them to maintain a high-octane offensive operation throughout a game. It also helps keep them fresh while navigating a grueling and relentless schedule. Conversely, The Knicks lean heavily on their starters. Tom Thibodeau primarily turns to two players off the bench, Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride. After that, it's Cameron Payne, who's averaging 7.2 minutes this postseason. If that doesn't change or New York can't find more contributors to help alleviate the burden the first unit is shouldering, fatigue could undermine the Knicks, just as that and the injuries that accompanied it did against Indiana in the playoffs last year. For the Pacers, empowering the collective is an approach that now has them three wins for their first NBA Finals appearance since Miller led them there in 2000.
Forbes
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
What Does It Mean To Be Clutch In Business And Sports?
Devin Bigoness, Chief Client Officer at the Sands Institute for Lifelong Learning, contributed to this story. Jalen Brunson. Alexander Ovechkin. Connor McDavid. Steph Curry. What do all these players have in common — aside from competing in this year's NBA and NHL playoffs? They've each been called 'clutch' at critical points in their careers. But what does that actually mean? In sports, being clutch means executing at a high level and making the key play when the game is on the line. It's about performing at a world-class level on the biggest stages, such as the NBA and NHL playoffs, or the Olympics. Clutch ability is often what separates the good from the great. Legends are made in these moments. Think of Michael Jordan hitting the game-winning shot in the 1998 Finals and countless other iconic finishes. Tom Brady cemented his legacy by winning seven Super Bowls and leading multiple game-winning drives with everything on the line. The opposite is also true: many talented players fall short of when the spotlight is brightest. One of the big stories so far of the sports year was Rory McIlroy finally winning the Masters this past April. It was a long-awaited triumph after several tournaments where he struggled to deliver when the pressure was at its highest level. A few weeks ago, he had a few Sunday highlights (and lowlights) as he faced some of the toughest shots. From a research standpoint, one study 'A Qualitative Investigation of the Clutch State in Sport' in 2012 indicated that 'Clutch performers ramp up focus, intensity and control rather than 'losing themselves' in the moment. In business or sports, this means high performers can consciously elevate their game when stakes are high.' The 2013 survey 'Characteristics of Choking vs. Clutch Performers in Sport' indicated that the ability to perform in clutch situations can be learned with mental and physical training. This ability can be learned, practiced, and needs to be a focus throughout someone's career as a key skill. So, what does it mean to be clutch in business? Some of the same criteria apply — these professionals shine when pressure peaks. They can close the key deal. Deliver the project on time and on budget when the stakes are pressurized. They rise to the occasion when their team or organization depends on them. They also benefit from this in the eyes of their stakeholders by being known as someone who can get it done, maintains composure, and performs at their best when it most counts. Based on our experiences working with business leaders, here are three elements to consider how to be more clutch — whether you are an athlete or business leader. One of the ways that the greats prepare themselves for the biggest moments is through thoughtful preparation. They simulate pressure situations over and over again so they are ready if and when they come. The basketball player that practices the final 10 seconds of the game repeatedly so that in the game they know they have been here before and can be their best. 'I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed' - Michael Jordan. If success in your job or field requires you to step up and sometimes be out of your comfort zone, seize that opportunity, as that is where the most growth happens and also where the rewards can be the highest. Most people, when reflect on their career progress, can pinpoint pressure-filled moments where stepping up moved them forward. Oftentimes, what separates out the clutch performers are the ones who can focus on the little things or the things they can control in pressure situations. They know that if they focus on breathing, for example, or their normal routine, they can increase their chances of performing. We have heard often from sales leaders who a few minutes before a big pitch they reflect on their practice, their key talking points, their breathing and their energy to get psyched up in order to best present themselves. In difficult conversations, one key approach is to focus on how you'll start and end the discussion, book ended the moment with clarity and purpose. Success is often defined as performing and winning when it matters the most. Your capabilities are proven and earned in these defining moments. Leaders and athletes who can excel when it counts the most will reap the rewards and be highly regarded — whether in sports, business or the sport of business.
