Carmelo Anthony vs. Kobe Bryant: Who Is the NBA's Best Closer?

For the last several years Kobe Bryant has held the banner of the NBA's best closer, consistently being in the top two of the NBA in terms of points per 48 minutes. Last year he led again. This year, while it's early yet, his numbers are way down, scoring just 38.6 points. Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony is scoring an otherworldly 71.1. 

Anthony is also leading the NBA in fourth quarter scoring with 10.1 points per game, which is well over two points better than anyone else in the NBA. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings are second at 7.7 points. 

There are some problems with using fourth quarter scoring though, as those numbers aren't adjusted per minutes. Some of those numbers may be an issue to merely playing more fourth quarter minutes, and while most would put Kevin Durant in the conversation readily enough, Jennings would raise more than a few eyebrows as "second best closer." 

Jennings averages just 21.4 minutes in clutch-time scoring. Durant has 51.6 points. There's some real distinction there. 

Last year Anthony's clutch-time scoring was down a bit, but the year before that he was at 47.0 points per 48 minutes. LeBron James led the NBA with 66.1. Last year, Bryant led the league and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls was second with 47.8 points per game along with a near triple-double of 10.4 rebounds and 9.8 assists, giving him the best total stats (points+rebounds+assists) of any player. 

Right now it's early enough in the season that these types of numbers can be easily misleading. The sample sizes are just too small. Having said that, it's not like Anthony is coming from nowhere.

He also has the advantage of being the NBA's best shooter in game-winning shots. As of 2009 he was hitting .481 in situations where a shot would win the game and the shot clock was off, hitting .456 in those situations. 

In the end, to take a hard line about who the best clutch player is can be difficult. How much you weight different factors is easy to skew in favor of one player or another. There are four or five players that can be argued. 

Anthony has consistently been a favorite for last-shot situations, but his clutch-time scoring has been a bit lower. He's never finished a season better than third. This year he's been huge though, and if he maintains this pace, he could emerge as the top dog.