NY Knicks: Immanuel Quickley Has Earned Shots in the Clutch

If any NY Knicks fan has ever picked up a basketball, even just once, they have found themselves dreaming up the following scenario in their backyard.

You’re sizing up the defender. The clock is running. Fans watch in anxious silence. Everything is on the line. You count down in your head. 3…2…1…you let it fly (and hope to God that Hakeem Olajuwon is nowhere near). The universe stops while the ball climbs to its apex and drops. It finds the bottom of the net. Fans destroy the silence.

Clutch.

You walk off to the Garden grateful showering you in beers and cheers and head home to your beautiful wife Topanga from Boy Meets World. (That last part might have just been young me.)

Every player who has touched a basketball has dreamed of being that clutch player.

With the NY Knicks playing good basketball against good teams through the remainder of the season and potentially into the playoffs – the need to find their clutch closer is going to be more and more important.

The NBA actually keeps clutch stats. They define clutch as how players perform in the final five minutes of games with a margin of 5 points or less.

If you go purely based on the NBA’s stats, it’s actually Austin Rivers that rises to the top. He has the highest field goal percentage and the highest win percentage of any player on the team this season in clutch situations. It also feels like Rivers hasn’t played this calendar year, and his days with the Knicks might be numbered.

So…he’s out.

The first logical place your brain goes is either RJ Barrett or Julius Randle. They are the heart and soul of the Knicks. Seemingly they should be taking the shots that matter most, but what do the stats say?

For Barrett, he clearly has a positive impact on the team in clutch situations, leading the team with a +/- of 36. However, it’s not necessarily his shooting that accounts for that.

Barrett shoots 42.4% from the floor and 55.9% from the line in the clutch. His positive impact in clutch situations comes from his rebounding and his 8:1 assist:turnover ratio.

Randle is second on the team in overall +/- in clutch situations with a 27, but again it’s not really due to his scoring efficiency as he shoots 35.7% in the clutch. Besides, he’s had a few chances recently that didn’t go his way.

Barrett and Randle should obviously be on the court for all the ways they impact winning, but data does not back up that they should be the guy taking the shot.

The darkhorse candidate here would be Mitchell Robinson. He is tied for the highest field goal percentage on the team in clutch situations. The trouble with Robinson is that he has one specific play you trust. I’d trust a Barrett/Randle pick-and-roll in a clutch situation, but there isn’t too much more you can draw up for him.

That really leaves one name, and with 54.5% on field goals and almost 70% true shooting in clutch situations, the data points to at least deserving a shot to have his backyard moment.

Immanuel Quickley.

The NY Knicks will likely find themselves in a few more close games before the playoffs begin, and the young rookie Quickley deserves at least one chance to prove he can be the guy we all dreamed of becoming.