Atlanta Hawks rookie AJ Griffin is just having one of those seasons where you can already tell he was picked far too late in the 2022 NBA Draft.
Griffin, who only just turned 19 years old in August, is the second-youngest player in the league currently in an NBA rotation. He was selected at No. 16 overall by the Hawks during the offseason, but even though it is still early in his professional career, he looks more than ready to contribute.
After yet another appearance in the starting lineup, he proved as much yet again on Sunday with a jaw-dropping game-winner against the Bulls.
Here is how the possession, which was a backdoor layup with 0.5 seconds left on the clock, looked in real-time:
AJ GRIFFIN AT THE BUZZER IN OVERTIME FOR THE WIN
AGAIN pic.twitter.com/zDy02jm2yL
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 12, 2022
This is the second game-winner of the season for Griffin, who was making his sixth appearance in the starting lineup for the Hawks.
His buzzer-beater against the Raptors (where his father, Adrian Griffin Sr., is an assistant coach) was excellent, too. But there was just something magical about last night’s shot against Chicago.
VIEW FROM THE COURT
AJ IS HIM pic.twitter.com/jUCHWGy2sj
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) December 12, 2022
You can tell as much with this view from the court that captured the wild, acrobatic nature of this improbable alley-oop.
If that view didn’t get you jumping up from out of your seat, though, here is every other view that was captured on camera:
🎥 Every angle of AJ Griffin's game-winner!#TrueToAtlanta x @ATLHawks x #NBARooks pic.twitter.com/zgPh70uP7b
— NBA (@NBA) December 12, 2022
Griffin currently leads all rookies in clutch win probability added (clWPA), per Inpredictable. He ranks No. 13 overall among all players in the NBA in this metric.
Atlanta is outscoring opponents by 4.7 points per 100 possessions during clutch minutes when Griffin is on the court, via NBA.com, which is the highest of anyone on the team who has played at least 20 such minutes.
If the season ended today, based on what we have seen so far, Griffin would merit serious consideration for First-Team All-Rookie honors.
