1. Paul Pierce (The Truth): No explanation needed
2. Larry Bird (Larry Legend): No explanation needed
3. Ray Allen (Jesus Shuttlesworth): A bit controversial I know. The thing is he def got us out of many bad situations in the regular season and playoffs. Even with good defense on him, he always showed up in clutch moments.
4. Isaiah Thomas (King of the 4th): He was not here for too long 2 (1/4) seasons, but he showed up in clutch moments both regular season and playoffs. His game 2 against Washington will always be remembered as one of the greatest playoff performances in not only Celtics history but NBA history.
Honorable mentions:
1. Al Horford (I would put him at #5 but I know I would get flamed for it. The truth is, in the past when he was a starter and got minutes he has made many clutch defensive plays either steals or blocks in late game situations or just solid defense. He’s had many clutch free throws and shots as well. People don’t wanna talk about it, but it’s facts and he’s proven it.)
2. Kevin Garnett (Similar to Al he’s had many clutch late game defensive moments. Shots wise, he has had some clutch shots like I remember the one against the Knicks, Warriors and Sixers as well. He doesn’t have too many though because we would rely on Ray or Paul in late games. Nonetheless, as a third option in late games he always showed up)
Let me know how you guys feel about my list.
by Georgia4life
41 Comments
I’m gonna be totally honest, there’s a little bit of recency bias here. Love IT, but he doesn’t belong on an all time celtics list for this storied of a franchise.
I might go with the guy who had more rings than fingers.
Bill Russell obviously needs to be up there. Aside from that good list.
who was hitting all the clutch shots on russells teams? hondo or sam jones?
Bill Russell, Larry Bird, John Havlicek, Paul Pierce
Dude, where the heck is the original Mr. Clutch, Sam Jones, on this list? Probably read up on Celtics history before making one.
Missing Hondo in this list
Hold a spot, Buffalo coming in hot.
Maybe if you are under 30 this makes sense. There are a whole bunch of Celtics greats you are missing – who are responsible for 13 other titles.
And while IT had a fun run, no one goes on any Celtics Mount Rushmore with no title and not even a finals appearance.
Champ
Oldest celtics fan
List is perfect…
If we won game 7, D White 0.1s put back would go down as one of the greatest plays in Celtics history
Yeah, no clutch Celtics in the 60s, you got that right…
Larry needs to be first.
IT being put in conversations he doesn’t belong in yet again
Havlicek instead of Thomas. I know a lot of people on here love that guy and that era but bottom line is they didn’t get a championship. He was this generations Antoine Walker.
Sam Jones – Russell himself said Sam and West were the 2 best guys Qin his era with the game on the line
Also Havlicek had one of the most clutch plays in NBA history, it was basically the Butler Interception of basketball
Where’s JT? We giving IT credit for 2.5 years and 1 conference finals appearance over a guy who’s been here and done that for 7 years? (I still love IT but let’s be real)
Gahhh I love Allen and IT but gotta put Bill and Hondo here. Havlicek stole the ball by itself is enough to put home on that list
Nobody is ahead of Larry Legend. Not on the celtics. AND not in the league.
The bigger the pressure, the better he got. He just did it so often, we became used to it.
Sam Jones and Hondo I would put over Ray and Isaiah. But this two are my honorable mentions
Bird, Pierce, Russell, Havlicek
Too young to know about Havlicek?
Tell me you’re young without telling me…
I agree that including Ray Allen is controversial bc they only won 1 ring with him. In defense of including him, I would mention though that some of those subsequent years when they couldn’t quite get over the hump (or overcome injuries), Ray hit some amazing clutch shots, regular season and postseason. There was a series against the Hawks that comes to mind in particular, I think he buried threes to put them into OT and then won it in OT, including one directly in the face of Joakim Noah who was an annoying turd that used to try to battle KG. A Ray Allen 3 in the clutch just felt like it was going down every time.
Some of those guys shouldn’t be on there, despite them being good. Can’t leave out Russell, Dennis Johnson, John Havlicek, hell even Cedric Maxwell is higher up on the list than Al Horford and probably IT too. People forget Max had clutch games in the finals and playoffs and he won us chips.
Sorry the only clutch play I remember of Havlicek was when he stole the ball
Havlicek and Russell?? IDK , guess I’m old
Sam Jones as well
Glad to see my all-time favorite Celtic being represented here.
So you’re what, 11, 12 years old??
Man I miss IT
Just thought I should mention that in Game 7 of the 1962 Finals vs. the Lakers, Bill Russell had 30 points and 40 rebounds and played all 53 minutes of an overtime game. This was Bob Ryan’s pick for greatest playoff performance by a Celtic, I think.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/196204180BOS.html
Cousy
Ah I see you are 12 years old!
Just want to shout out Dennis Johnson. For those of us who watched him in the 80s, he always played big in the clutch.
Cant speak to the 60s/70s teams but Russell, Sam Jones, Hondo and perhaps Jo Jo are all clutch legends.
Someone here mentioned Cedric Maxwell, which is right on. Always played big when it counted.
IT lol come on man. Dude never came close to winning anything. Celtics fans love overrating these scrams.
Russel, Bird, Pierce, Tatum. When Tatum wins one, these 4 were the top in their championship era throughout C’s history.
While I agree Ray is controversial but effective and IT was the king of the fourth (briefly), I’d say the only true clutch Cs are the first two and in that order. There are others from older teams I would replace Ray and IT with though.
You’ve got a little recency bias but hey, I can’t blame you. Those were/are all fun players to watch, especially in great moments where they shined.
Recency bias
Cousy, Jones, Russell, Havlicek, Rondo??