Hoops Habit
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Each NBA team’s most clutch player of all-time

By Josh Cornelissen

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images /
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New York Knicks
New York Knicks (Photo by Ross Lewis/Getty Images) /

Most clutch player in New York Knicks history: Willis Reed and Walt “Clyde” Frazier

The New York Knicks as a franchise have had a large number of clutch moments in their history, some of them good and so many of them bad. The annals of NBA history are filled with players wilting from the moment, making critical errors in judgment, or simply missing big shots.

Even so, there are clear high moments when the Knicks experienced the positives of clutch play. One such shot came from Allan Houston in Game 5 of their 1999 first round showdown with the Miami Heat, when the Knicks became the first team seeded eighth to make it to the NBA Finals. But for a more impactful moment, we must turn back the clock to 1970.

Willis Reed was an incredibly athletic center, able to dominate the glass despite standing just 6-9. In 1970 he won MVP for a Knicks team that won 60 games and made the NBA Finals. His wingman was point guard Walt “Cliyde” Frazier, who himself finished fourth in MVP voting in 1970. After defeating the Bullets and Bucks, the Knicks were poised to win a title for New York if they could overcome the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor.

Key Moment: After going up 3-2 in the series, the Knicks were walloped by the Lakers in Game 6 playing without Reed, who suffered a severe ankle sprain in Game 5. It seemed obvious to everyone that without the league MVP the Knicks had no chance to win Game 7.

Then unexpectedly as the Knicks warmed up on the Garden floor, Reed hobbled out wearing his uniform. He started the game and scored the first two baskets of the game. The Lakers were shocked that Reed was out there, and the Knicks rode the emotional lift. Although Reed would not score the rest of the game, his ability and will to play through the injury lifted the rest of the team.

Frazier had one of the all-time great NBA Finals performances, dropping 36 points, seven rebounds, 19 assists and four steals on the Lakers. Without a strong ball-handling point guard the Lakers couldn’t get their offense going, and four times Frazier picked the Lakers’ pocket and went the other way for a score. With no emotional answer for Reed’s return and no on-court answer for Frazier, the Lakers folded and the Knicks won the championship in front of their home crowd.