This Is Officially the 'Clutchest NBA Shot Ever'

So says statistics
Posted Dec 21, 2016 6:09 PM CST

Kyrie Irving hits what math says is the biggest shot in NBA history during last year's Finals.
(YouTube)

Basketball fans have spent countless hours in the nation's rec rooms and bars debating the biggest shot in NBA history. But now thanks to math and an in-depth analysis by the Wall Street Journal, we have a definitive answer—and it's not a shot that would top most people's lists. A new-ish statistic called win probability added—how much a made basket increases a team's chance of winning—can be shifted to championship probability added—how much a basket increases a team's chance of winning it all. By that metric, Kyrie Irving's 3-pointer that gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a 92-89 lead over the Golden State Warriors with 53 seconds left in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals is the "clutchest NBA shot ever" with a championship probability added of 32%. Even the great Michael Jordan only ever hit a shot that increased the Chicago Bulls' chance of a championship by 19%. Read the full piece here for everything that went into making Irving's shot bigger than the more than 4 million that came before it. (More NBA stories.)

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