Shooting guard Tuesdays: The two guards have been clutch

The Pacers have been solid in clutch situations this season. The two guards have been the driving force behind that.

Clutch situations have been a bane for the Indiana Pacers in seasons past. One of the better-known facts around Pacers twitter is that Paul George, for all the great things he did on the basketball court, never hit a buzzer beater as a member of the team. This season, things have been different, and the team is killing it in the clutch on the backs of the two shooting guards in the rotation: Lance Stephenson and Victor Oladipo.

Something that needs to be clarified is what exactly clutch is. Obviously, the final minute or so of a tie game is a clutch situation. But the NBA defines clutch situations a little more broadly than that. The league has deemed “clutch” time to be when a game’s score is within five points in the final five minutes of play. In these situations, the Pacers have thrived.

Over the course of this season, the Indiana Pacers have been in a clutch situation 20 times, exactly half of their games. They have won 11 of those games and have a net rating of 9.4, meaning they are 9.4 points per 100 possessions better than their opponents when the game is on the line, good for ninth in the league.

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The reasoning for this can be traced back to the shooting guard position. The two leaders on the team in clutch net rating are Lance Stephenson (22.7) and Victor Oladipo (19.4). The fascinating part is that they are succeeding for completely different reasons.

Oladipo is doing it on the offensive end of the floor. He has a blistering 113.9 offensive rating in the clutch, the third highest on the team. This can be attributed to some incredible shooting. He has 40 percent usage, meaning the Pacers feed him the ball as often as they can, yet Dipo still puts the ball in the basket very efficiently.

His true shooting percentage is over 60 percent at 60.2. That number is second on the team to Bojan Bogdanovic, but Victor’s true shooting is far more impressive given his usage.

You’ve seen it time and time again all year. Remember this?

And this?

Lance, on the other hand, has been getting it done on the defensive end. When the game is on the line, Stephenson comes in to lock down the other teams best wing player.

His 78 defensive rating in the clutch is not just good for the situation but is amazing in general. Stephenson leads the team in this category by over 11 points per 100 possessions, a perfect testament to his lockdown D with the game on the line.

He never gives up on a play. Here, he fights through a screen and stays with his man all the way to the tin. Then, he forces the pass and steals it, showing off his impressive stopping ability at the end of games. This play leads to offensive opportunities too, as he pushes in transition and it leads to a layup:

Lance and Victor both playing at their peak when the game is close has been huge for the Pacers this year. This is welcoming because of how poorly the team played in the clutch last year. In 2016-17 they had a -5 net rating in the clutch, and their superstar wing Paul George had a net rating of -4.4. This seasons improvement in these situations is leading to wins and results.

Next: What fourth quarter? Pacers dominate Bucks

Winning close games is an easy way for a team to squeak out a few undeserved wins. The Indiana Pacers may just be doing that this year. Hopefully, on the backs of these shooting guards, the team can keep up their clutch success.