Stephen Curry’s clutch performances throughout the 2023-24 season earned him recognition, as he was announced as the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year for the same season on Thursday. Curry emerged victorious over fellow finalists DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Curry, DeRozan, and Gilgeous-Alexander were announced as the finalists during TNT’s NBA Tip-Off on Sunday, coinciding with the opening weekend of the NBA playoffs. This timing was particularly noteworthy because only Gilgeous-Alexander managed to lead his team to the playoffs among the trio.

Gilgeous-Alexander guided the Oklahoma City Thunder to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with an impressive record of 57-25. He achieved this feat by averaging 30.1 points, 6.2 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game, while shooting at a remarkable 53.5 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Given his exceptional performance, it was unsurprising that the Oklahoma City Thunder consistently relied on Gilgeous-Alexander in clutch situations, and he consistently delivered when called upon.

Gilgeous-Alexander ranked seventh in the league for total points scored in clutch situations, defined by the NBA as the final five minutes of a game with a margin of five points or fewer. Despite playing just 107.5 clutch minutes, he managed to score 112 points with an impressive shooting percentage of 58.1% from the field, as reported by NBA.com.

In comparison, the top six scorers in clutch situations all played more minutes, with five of them logging at least 121.7 minutes. Despite his limited playing time, Gilgeous-Alexander remained near the top of the leaderboard.

Leading the clutch-time scoring leaderboard was Curry, who amassed 189 points while shooting 49.6% from the field and 45.7% from beyond the arc in 142.9 clutch minutes. DeRozan closely followed in second place with 182 points, shooting 48.7% from the field and 46.7% from three-point range in 191.8 clutch minutes.

During the 43 clutch games in which Curry played, the Warriors achieved a record of 23-20, while the Bulls boasted a record of 24-16 in DeRozan’s clutch appearances. Chicago’s impressive clutch record, despite their overall record of 39-43, underscores DeRozan’s ability to seize control in crucial moments when victory seemed attainable.