Clutch shooting in NBA not for the shy types

DALLAS -- When it comes to converting game-winning or game-tying shots with less than 10 seconds on the clock, no NBA player did it better than the iconic Michael Jordan.

For starters, there was Jordan's celebrated 17-footer at the buzzer over the outstretched and helpless arms of Cleveland's Craig Ehlo that won the series-clinching Game 5 for the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 1989 playoffs.

Jordan, of course, topped that one when his very last shot - with His Airness striking a pose - as a member of the Bulls nestled in the net against the Utah Jazz and clinched Chicago's sixth NBA title.

However, when Jordan was only a mere 13 years old, Phoenix Suns forward Gar Heard connected on what became known as the NBA's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" when his dramatic 20-footer at the top of the key at the buzzer sent Game 5 of the Suns-Boston Celtic 1976 championship series into an epic third overtime.

That raises the question: What goes into the brain of those players who don't mind stepping up and taking a shot that could invariably not only change the perception of a franchise, but also the financial lives for vendors, hotels, restaurants, rental car companies and taxi cab drivers in that city?

"As you're growing up when you're either in your back yard or in the gym or in high school, you're always thinking about hitting the winning shot, and you want to take the last shot, whether it goes in or not," Heard said. "All through high school and college I was the main guy, so I took the last shot in high school and I did in college and I got an opportunity to do it in the pros."

Heard noted that players who have supreme confidence in making the big shot time after time are the ones who will be most successful, even if they missed three or four game-winning shots in a row.

But Heard also is fully aware that many, many players don't want any part of being the person called upon to take what is known as a clutch shot. And many players, such as Robert Horry - who hit an inordinate amount of last-second shots in his career - don't really mind having the game's outcome resting on their ability to make a clutch shot.

"You do it all your life and if you make the shot, you're a hero, and if you miss it then it's just a shot that you missed, but you can't be afraid to take it," Heard said. "A lot of guys don't want to be the goat, so they don't want to take the shot because they don't want people to say you missed the big shot.

"But I just think that's part of the game."

After Horry's miracle 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Sacramento 100-99 in Game 4 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals, Kings center Vlade Divac said it was nothing more than a lucky shot. Horry, however, said at the time:

"That wasn't no luck shot. I've been doing that for all my career. He should know. He better read a paper or something."

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who has taken, made and missed more than his fair share of last-second shots, agreed with Heard.

"I always like to take the last shot, because it's kind of fun to be the person who hit the shot that helped your team win the game and see the fans go crazy," Nowitzki said. "And you can't ever be afraid to take that shot, because that'll increase your chances of missing it.

"I know when we had Jet (Jason Terry) here, that guy lived for situations like that. And he was real good at it, too."

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/11/3228108/clutch-shooting-in-nba-not-for.html

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