“Giannis can’t buy a bucket in the clutch but leads the league in 4th quarter scoring?”: How the Bucks MVP has been potent in the 4th but ineffective in the clutch

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been torching teams in the 4th quarter, leading all players in fourth quarter scoring this season. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks have been struggling to play like defending champions this 2021-22 NBA season. Granted, Giannis, Middleton, and Jrue Holiday have only played 19 games together out of the 43 total games that the Bucks have played, so the NBA has yet to see the champs at full strength for extended periods of time. 

The Bucks currently boast a 26-17 record, following a loss to the Charlotte Hornets yet again, despite Antetokounmpo’s dominant double-double. The ‘Greek Freak’ has played 32 games this season, racking up 21 wins in those games.

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Despite not having played over a quarter of the games this season, he is currently putting up stats that trump the rest of the league. In fact, in the NBA’s most recent MVP ranking, they have placed the reigning Finals MVP as the frontrunner to win the regular season MVP yet again. 

Giannis is leading the league in 4th quarter scoring. 

While Joel Embiid holds a firm grip over clutch-time scoring, Giannis is the undisputed king of the 4th quarter this season; in terms of scoring that is. He has put up a total of 273 points in the final 12 minutes of games while shooting 57.2% from the field and a respectable 70.6% from the charity stripe. 

The fourth is also the quarter he has scored in the most, reflecting on just how potent he is when it comes down to brass tacks.

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In comparison to his play overall during games, he actually sees in an uptick in both field goal percentage and 3P% in the 4th. He’s shooting 54% from the field overall and 28% from beyond the arc in comparison to a solid 32% in the final period of games. 

However, when it comes to clutch situations, the story is a bit different for Giannis. He has only scored 33 total points in clutch-time over the course of 16 games where the Bucks were in the clutch. Quite the drastic shift from his overall 4th quarter scoring, averaging just over 2 points a game in clutch situations. 

The Bucks with Giannis are 9-7 in situations where the game is within 5 points with under 5 minutes to go.