With the news that the lockout ended, I started getting back into looking at stats and whatnot from last year. One thing I noticed, which I’m guessing a lot of us probably suspected, is that Chris Paul didn’t bring his usual excellence to crunch time last season.
His numbers were down drastically from the previous three years, but what surprised me was how little if seemed to actually affect the team’s performance overall in the clutch. We probably didn’t realize that the Hornets were again one of the best teams in the league during what 82games.com defines as “Clutch” time.
While Paul’s shooting numbers both in terms of volume and efficiency plummeted to four years lows, possibly a result of not having his legs fully under him at the end of games because of the knee injury, the Hornets weren’t notably worse statistically as a result. In fact, their +14 plus/minus advantage in points scored per 48 minutes of clutch time is actually the second best number they have put up in the past four seasons with Paul on the floor.
If you’re looking for a reason why the Hornets were able to win without Chris Paul at his best, your search might begin and end at Emeka Okafor and David West. Okafor snagged 15.5 rebounds per 48 minutes of clutch time while swatting 3.7 shots. In the 44 minutes that Okafor did not join CP3 on the floor for crunch time, the Hornets were actually outscored by two points. West also played well, but I’ll let you see for yourself.
Considering the Hornets were able to remain so good in the clutch without CP3 anywhere near his usual standard tells us that this year, if Paul brings his A-game, Hornets fans should be treated to some fantastic finishes at the Hive and on television.
7 responses to “While Chris Paul’s Crunch Time Numbers Fell Off Last Year, The Hornets Remained Clutch”
Did not read this , I did however notice that Rondo for Paul story you linked and obviously theirs no way to know what exactly the young talent would look like . But first impressions , that’s the best cp3 proposal I’ve heard so far. Westbrook is that guy you play pick up with who can take it to the hole everytime but always seems to throw the ball out of bounds and complain all day. Not sayin I’m ready to ship Paul off yet , but at least Rondo gives you something every night
Can one of you guys with twitter ask Fletcher Mackel why he’s never given a s**t about the Hornets? Please. Please ask him. I’m curious to his answer.
Fletcher is one of those Saints fans that think only the Saints should be in the city.
That man you are talking about is very good at getting talked about.
I do my best not to do so, but I’m sort of an imp.
How are you, Queen?
I’m good sir. How are you? Didn’t think all this trade stuff would smack us in the face so soon after the lockout. I really shouldn’t be surprised though.
It’s like you were jamming to a good song on the radio, turned the car off, came back the next day, and got blasted by the sweet sounds of 98 Degrees.
Anyway dell takes the rondo deal without making the celtics or this presumed 3rd team absorb okafors contract