The 2024/2025 NBA season has once again seen a number of thrilling matches that have come right down to the wire, and the playoffs itself have been no different either. From the first round to the Finals, fans have witnessed some of the most dramatic endings the game has ever seen.
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has been on a one-man mission to deliver daggers to the heart of opposition teams, and has been on a legendary run of hitting clutch shots - he has made a total of six clutch shots that have either tied or taken the lead in the final 90 seconds during the playoffs, including hitting the game-winner in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But while Haliburton is busy creating headlines with each game that passes by, does he rank among the best clutch players in NBA history?
Ranking Factors
How many clutch shots they made
The context of the game - shots made in the playoffs or the Finals itself count for more
Difficulty of the shot
Who they made the shot against - teams/players guarding them
10 Kyrie Irving
Klay Thompson Kyrie Irving 2016 NBA Finals
As much as Kyrie Irving has caused controversy off the court, there's no doubting the talent the Dallas Mavericks point guard has. The player LeBron James insisted was the most gifted he had ever seen in the NBA, has come up with some big shots over his career, not least in the 2016 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors when he hit a game-winning three-pointer in Game 7 with less than a minute remaining.
Ranking the best NBA Finals MVPs of all-time featuring Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James Related
10 Best NBA Finals MVPs of All-Time (Ranked)
Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Tyrese Haliburton join this list?
With some of the best handles the league has ever seen, Irving has always been able to get to his spot whenever needed, and his ability to find crafty finishes when driving into the paint has always kept opposition defenders guessing. His 21-foot game-winning floater with his weaker left-hand against the Denver Nuggets in March 2024 was about as ingenious as you can get.
9 Ray Allen
Ray Allen
When you think of shots that defined an entire era, then Ray Allen's three-pointer in Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs is right up there. With the Heat down by three and the shot clock off, LeBron James would first miss a three-pointer to tie the game, before Chris Bosh would muscle in and steal the rebound.
Bosh would then kick it out to the corner to a waiting Allen, who would promptly drain his shot from beyond-the-arc, tying the game and sending it to overtime - the Heat would then come out on top and send the series to a Game 7 which they would eventually win to claim the NBA championship. One of the biggest shots in NBA history, a whole Finals series completely flipped in the space of a few seconds. Never mind Allen's clutch efforts with the Boston Celtics - instead, he will be forever remembered for that shot against San Antonio.
8 Reggie Miller
Reggie Miller Indiana Pacers
One of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history, Reggie Miller made it his mission to send opposition fans in tears - you only have to ask New York Knicks fans how they feel about him to know the pain and suffering Miller caused them during the 1990s. Nothing perhaps better reflected that then when he exploded for eight points in just nine seconds against the Knicks in 1995 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
Just three years later, Miller would knock down a huge three in the final seconds of Indiana's Game 4 clash against the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals to tie the series at 2-2. All in all, in his final nine seasons in the NBA, Miller would make 142 three-pointers in crunch time, 54 more than the next closest player in that same period.
7 Jerry West
Jerry West
The logo himself, Jerry West, made a huge name for himself with the way he operated during the clutch. His shot from 53 feet in the 1970 NBA Finals still brings back fond memories for those lucky enough to have seen it in person. The only player to win an NBA Finals MVP award despite playing for the losing team - he did so for the Lakers in 1969 after averaging an unbelievable 37.9 points, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds against the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series - West was a playoff machine.
He still holds the NBA record to this day of averaging the highest points per game in a playoff series, managing 46.3 PPG in the 1965 Western Division Finals against Baltimore. At the time of his retirement in 1974, he also held the records of the highest playoff scoring average of 29.1 points per game, and most points in the playoffs with 4,457.
6 Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan
Everytime the playoffs came round, you just knew Kobe Bryant knew that it was showtime. The Los Angeles Lakers legend invariably stepped up his game when the spotlight was at its brightest, and demanded the ball in the toughest of situations to help his team over the line. Armed with his famed 'Mamba Mentality', Bryant would hit numerous game-winning shots, not least in the 2000 Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Phoenix Suns and the 2008 Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
The 20 greatest NBA players of all time have been named & ranked by fans - in order Related
20 Greatest NBA Players of All Time Ranked By Fans
Basketball fans have had their say, and they have ranked the 20 greatest players in NBA history.
According to an ESPN report back in 2011, Bryant had been the overwhelming pick over the previous six seasons during NBA.com's annual general manager survey that had the question 'Which player in the NBA would you want taking a shot with the game on the line?'.
5 Larry Bird
Larry Bird
As much as 'clutch' can mean making a game-winning shot, it can also refer to what a player does on the defensive end. And, in the case of Boston Celtics legend, Larry Bird, it was his two steals in Game 5 of both the 1985 and 1987 Eastern Conference Finals that caught people's attentions.
Indeed, the 1987 one saw the Celtics almost down and out and staring at the Detroit Pistons being able to close the series out at home in the next game. The Pistons were leading by a point with just seconds remaining and holding possession of the ball with Isiah Thomas ready to send it inbound. What the Pistons point guard didn't see though, was Bird anticipating what he was about to do, cutting into the passing lane and stealing it before it could reach Bill Laimbeer's hands. Bird would then found a cutting Dennis Johnson to lay it in and win the game.
As if to further underline Bird's clutch nature, he also averaged 27 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists in the eight Game 7s that he played - the Celtics would win six of them.
4 LeBron James
Miami Heat forward LeBron James during Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals.
Credit: Pool Photo-Imagn Images
One of the all-time greats of the game, LeBron James has had some iconic clutch moments on both ends of the floor. His biggest perhaps came in Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, when, with less than two minutes remaining, James chased down Andre Iguodala and blocked his layup attempt and kept the score all-tied. It is arguably the greatest block in NBA history and in itself is worthy of putting on LeBron on this list.
While his time with the Los Angeles Lakers has seen his clutch play somewhat diminish - a report back in February 2025 revealed that James had gone 1-29 on go-ahead or game-tying shots since joining the franchise - there's no questioning what he had done in previous years.
3 Damian Lillard
Damian Lillard
Damian Lillard is so clutch that we even have a top 10 rankings of the most clutch shots the now Milwaukee Bucks star has made over the course of his career. When Robert Horry even name-checks you as being the best clutch shooter the game has ever seen, then you know you have to be up there.
People are going to say, ‘Damian Lillard? He hasn’t won anything. But Lillard has hit a clutch shot versus every team in the NBA. Think about that. Every team. The last minute or so of a game, he’s come through with a clutch shot, even though he got a lot of shots during the game.
Aside from his now trademark walk-off game-winners - who can ever forget when he did so for the Portland Trail Blazers to send Paul George and the Oklahoma City Thunder home - even the stats back up the claim that he is one of the greatest clutch shooters ever.
Since Lillard's rookie season in 2012, Dame Time has made 10 game-winners in the last five seconds which ranks first among all players, while from that same time period, he has hit more three-pointers with the score within five in the final five minutes of a regular season game.
2 Robert Horry
Robert Horry
When you're given the nickname of 'Big Shot Rob', you know you're one of the best clutch shooters in the game. Robert Horry - a seven-time NBA champion across his 16-year career in the association - is synonymous with the term 'clutch', hitting big shot after big shot when the title was on the line.
In Game 3 of the 1995 NBA Finals, Horry would hit a three-pointer with just 14 seconds on the clock, giving the Houston Rockets a 104-101 lead over the Orlando Magic that would prove critical in the series. In 2002, with the Los Angeles Lakers locked in a close Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings, Horry would hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to win Game 4 and tie the series at 2-2. He also holds the NBA record for the most steals in a Finals game, and for making the most three-point shots in a playoff game without missing.
1 Michael Jordan
Simply put, the greatest there was, the greatest there is, and perhaps the greatest there ever will be. When it comes to the GOAT conversations of basketball, many of Michael Jordan's fans will quite rightly point to his work in the clutch and how that separates him from the best. A man who never lost in the NBA Finals and was the leader behind two three-peats in the 1990s, MJ was the man for the big occasion.
NBA_Jordan named his all-time dream Related
Michael Jordan Named His All-Time Dream NBA Starting 5
Michael Jordan put together a rather stacked five-a-side team in NBA history, but excluded some top, top legends in the process.
Hitting series-enders in both 1989 and 1998, Jordan could be trusted to take the ball in his hands with the shot clock winding down and making it regardless of who was trying to put a hand in his face. 'The Last Shot' in 98 saw Jordan steal the ball from Utah Jazz power forward Karl Malone, dribble down the court, cross Bryon Russell up before launching a 20-foot jumper that swished through the net to give the Bulls the lead with just 5.2 seconds remaining. Chicago would hang on, clinch their sixth NBA title in eight years, and bring an end to one of the greatest dynasties in sports history.