SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox put his clutch scoring ability on full display in the first two games of the playoffs to help Sacramento take a 2-0 series lead over the Golden State Warriors.
Fox was recognized for his fourth-quarter heroics Tuesday when he was announced as a landslide winner of the inaugural NBA Clutch Player of the Year award.
Fox won the award over two other finalists, Chicago Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan and Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler. Fox received 91 out of 100 first-place votes for the award.
TNT analyst Kenny Smith announced the winner during the NBA Tip-Off show.
“The Kia 2023 Clutch Player of the Year award goes to De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings, and he proved it last night (against the Warriors),” Smith said.
TNT host Ernie Johnson asked Fox about his mindset in clutch situations.
“I always tell people you can’t be afraid to fail,” Fox said. “Obviously, you’re not going to make every shot, but my teammates and my coaches, they put me in position to succeed, so the least I can do is have confidence in myself to go take big shots.”
Fox scored 15 points with three assists and one turnover in the fourth quarter of a 126-123 victory over the Warriors in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series on Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. He went 5 of 9 from the field and 3 of 3 from 3-point range.
Fox followed that performance with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting with three assists and zero turnovers in the fourth quarter of Monday’s 114-106 victory over the Warriors.
Fox led the NBA in total points (194) while shooting 52.9% in clutch situations, when the scoring margin is within five points with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter or overtime. Fox ranked fourth with 5.0 points per game in clutch situations.
Fox ranked second in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring this season with an average of 8.3 points, trailing only Kyrie Irving (9.8). He was sixth among all players and second among guards in fourth-quarter field-goal percentage (.515).
