There's a pretty wide disparity between the perception and reality of "clutch" basketball. We tend to believe it's almost genetic: some players and teams have a clutch instinct, while others don't. The truth is more nuanced than that. Really, clutch performance encompasses such a tiny sample that it can look almost random. Last year's Bulls had a higher clutch net rating than last year's Celtics . The 2022-23 Mavericks who missed the playoffs went 26-29 in the clutch. The 2023-24 team that made the NBA Finals with a pretty similar group of players went 23-9. It may not be fully random, but clutch performance is rarely consistent.

Unless, for the past few decades, you've had Chris Paul . The 2016-17 Houston Rockets finished 18th in clutch net rating. Then they got Chris Paul an

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