The NBA's Coldest End-of-Game Closers of the Last 10 Years

An NBA game lasts 48 minutes. And while plenty happens in the first 46, a lot of contests are ultimately decided in the last two.Like the ninth inning in baseball, it's in those waning moments when you want a guy who slings fire. And over the last 10 years, the league has seen some electrifying closers.It's often in that "closing time" when stars are made. For the purposes of this slideshow, we'll define it as the last two minutes of a fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within three points.To determine who performed best in those limited situations, I looked to play-by-play data available at Basketball Reference.Using the site's Shot Finder, I compiled total shots made under the above "closing time" parameters, then took the top 25 there and sorted them by effective field-goal percentage (eFG%, defined by Basketball Reference as a number that "adjusts for the fact that a three-point field goal is worth one more point than a two-point field goal.").It's not a perfect method for determining the league's best closer over the last 10 years, but it makes both volume and efficiency part of the conversation.Nos. 25-11 can be found below:RankPlayerFGFGAFG%3P3PA3P%eFG%11Zach Randolph731690.4321100.1000.43512Paul Millsap691670.4136250.2400.43113Deron Williams691800.38316500.3200.42814Chris Paul1072620.40810430.2330.42715Kevin Durant1263400.371361110.3240.42416Dirk Nowitzki982610.37523780.2950.42017Carmelo Anthony1022580.39512530.2260.41918DeMar DeRozan741850.4003160.1880.40819Kemba Walker671770.37910430.2330.40720LaMarcus Aldridge681700.400140.2500.40321Dwyane Wade902400.37513520.2500.40222Paul Pierce692030.34022590.3730.39423Derrick Rose852270.3747230.3040.39024Russell Westbrook1123110.36018760.2370.38925John Wall711960.3626280.2140.378Basketball ReferenceAnd the top 10 follow.Begin Slideshow
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