Yuta Watanabe hasn't started a game for the Nets yet this season. But he's finished 11 of them.
Watanabe has been one of the most reliable players down the stretch of games not only for the Nets, but throughout the entire league. The team has leaned heavily on him amid their six-game winning streak, and he has performed every time he's been called on.
Not only has he been in the team's closing lineup for every game since returning from injury on December 10, he is third on the team in fourth quarter minutes behind only Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
He has earned that level of trust from the coaching staff because of how he has elevated his game in high leverage situations.
MORE: How Yuta Watanabe became the best corner 3-point shooter in the NBA
Yuta Watanabe is one of the NBA's most clutch players
Watanabe has seemingly turned up his game in the fourth quarter of games. He's leading the league in fourth quarter 3-point shooting by a gigantic margin, of players that have taken at least 15 attempts.
- Yuta Watanabe — 68.4%
- Damion Lee — 56.8%
- Luke Kennard — 56.3%
- Trey Murphy III — 54.8%
- Seth Curry — 54.5%
While other players crumble down the stretch, Watanabe has been at his best under pressure. According to a clutch model built by statistician Mike Beuoy, he has been the 22nd-most clutch player in the league out of 514 tracked players.
Players he ranks AHEAD OF include LeBron James, Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum. Yes, you read that right. No, it's not a typo.
Want examples? He hit a massively clutch 3-pointer against his former team, the Raptors, with only 14.1 seconds left, to give the Nets a one-point lead on Friday.
Yuta the CLUTCH shoota! pic.twitter.com/hXkOZWUiAn
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 17, 2022
He followed that up with another big time 3 in a four-point game late in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Big-time triple from @wacchi1013 👌 pic.twitter.com/PSG6LvSxmZ
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) December 19, 2022
Watanabe hasn't only won games late with his shooting. His hustle and intelligence have been huge factors in Nets wins. He fed Ben Simmons for an easy dunk late in Friday's game.
Watanabe's solid play against his former team had his former coach, Nick Nurse, rueing the franchise's decision to let him go as a free agent last summer.
“We did our best with him," Nurse told reporters after the loss. "I keep saying it was hard. He was really good and then not so good, and dealt with a lot of injuries and sickness. So it was hard to decide if we were going to continue. We didn’t."
Watanabe also helped seal a win with his great offensive rebounding earlier in the season, during the team's 136-133 win over the Pacers on Dec. 10. He's played great defense down the stretch of games too.
All of those factors have led to the Nets having a 6-1 record in the clutch games that Watanabe has played in this season. He has quietly been one of their most pivotal players during winning time.
