Two games, two game-winners in a row for the Charlotte Hornets. The first one by Malik Monk, this one by Devonte’ Graham. The Hornets might not actually be a good team, but they sure know how to get it done in clutch situations this year.
I don’t think the Charlotte faithful know how to react; their team has been choking away games for a few years now, sporting some horrendously bad record in close contests. I’m too lazy to verify, but prior to these last two games, they probably hadn’t seen a legit game-winner in a decade. Or more, possibly. Certainly the Bobcats weren’t hitting any.
We can say one thing for certain: Kemba Walker is the least clutch player in recent memory, possibly of all time. Is it any coincidence that once he departs for greener (get it? GREENER! HAHAHAHAHA! WOOOOO!) pastures, the Hornets suddenly start performing well in the clutch? Part of it has to do with overreliance on Walker; with a scorer like that, the play is always going to be “give him the ball and get out of the way”. With this current squad, an actual play has to be drawn up and executed, with the hope that whoever gets to take the shot doesn’t spazz out from the pressure. But another part of is that Walker just straight up is a midget choker who sucks.
Graham had a big game aside from his big shot, hitting 8 threes before his mega-clutch triple with 2 seconds left. I’ve seen some Damian Lillard comparisons recently, and I’ll tell you, those comparisons are looking really accurate right now.