Players Who Decide N.B.A. Games Before Crunch Time Crunch-time situations are the catnip of N.B.A. basketball. They distill a complex game into a hyperfocused product, call upon the best players to make spectacular plays and cast the entire contest under the natural drama of a ticking clock. It is no mystery why the herculean efforts of the league's best closers fascinate us; the final moments of a competitive game are practically tailor-made to present basketball at its most theatrical and impressive. Yet it is not entirely truthful to say that a game is decided in its closing seconds, no matter how spectacular its finish may be. Basketball fans may live and die with every bounce of the ball in crunch time, but no shot is any more important than it would have been 40 minutes earlier. It is our perception of what those shots mean that changes; 2 points are still 2 points when it comes to the final margin, and although a game-winning bucket may seem to be of greater import than all of the shots that preceded it, every other routine basket throughout the game is equal in consequence. And, if anything, crunch time imbues games with a dangerous volatility. The very nature of close games introduces random chance as a powerful determinant of their result; the unpredictability of a loose ball, the chaos of a battle for a rebound, or the fortunate bounce of an errant shot mean more than ever as the balance of a game is reduced to a few possessions. Therefore, the most prudent approach for good teams and players is to avoid that haphazardness by putting the game away in true "winning time"; it may not make for compelling television, but there is unspeakable value in scoring so much in the third and early fourth quarters that luck becomes a nonissue. If we revere the closer for allegedly winning a game single-handedly, then so, too, should we revere the front-runner - the player who builds or sustains his team's lead so much that crunch time is sidestepped altogether. With that effort in mind, here are some of the league's top front-runners this season: For the purposes of this exercise, the data used will be restricted to field goals made in the third quarter or the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, with a player's team holding a lead of 5 points or more. The data are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com's Play Index+ feature. LeBron James, Miami Heat James has been routinely scrutinized for his late-game performance, but he is the king of putting opponents away early. James remains the key to Miami's explosive potential; his two-way magnificence creates easy scoring opportunities off defensive stops and halfcourt sets alike, and individually he has managed to score far more points in winning-time situations than anyone else in the league. No basketball player is better than James, and no individual scorer is better at bringing games to a premature conclusion. Also: the available data can only pinpoint field goals made and attempted within the third and fourth quarters. If it were possible to account for all of the points James creates by way of free throws and assists, James's dominance during this stretch of the game would be even more striking. Carlos Boozer, Chicago Bulls Boozer's lackluster defense, tendency to have his shot blocked and general ridiculousness make him an easy target, but buried beneath the criticism is a fairly sturdy scorer. So much of one, in fact, that despite Tom Thibodeau's tendency to keep Derrick Rose and Luol Deng on the floor until their bodies begin breaking down, Boozer has outscored both in this particularly vital second-half stretch. Boozer most likely is not anywhere near Chicago's top option as a single-possession shotmaker, but when it comes to putting up bulk scoring as a way of boosting and protecting a lead, he is as productive and efficient as anyone in a Bulls uniform. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder It should come as little surprise that Durant ranks highly in any matter in which scoring or efficiency are concerned, no matter the filter. Crunch time, first quarter, inside, outside, double-team, single coverage ... circumstances are mere descriptors for Durant - a way of qualifying and explaining the torrent of points that seems to come in every game, without much regard for any particular condition. Chris Bosh, Miami Heat Bosh is undoubtedly the lesser of Miami's big three, but he is still a star-caliber player capable of creating looks for himself and finishing scoring opportunities inside and out. And, the early fourth quarter seems to be his time, so to speak; Bosh registered more made field goals in the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter (under the aforementioned margin conditions) than any other player in the N.B.A. this season. That's not quite as illustrious as being a premier closer, but Bosh's ability to keep Miami's offense afloat while James and Dwyane Wade rest has been essential to Miami's season-long success. The Heat are among the best in the league at protecting leads (per HoopsStats.com, Miami is 22-4 when leading at halftime and 24-3 when leading after the third quarter), and though James and Wade obviously play a big part in that effort, Bosh's standalone work in the early fourth quarter keeps opponents at arm's distance. Honorable mention: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe actually ranks fifth in the league in points scored during true winning time, but his disappointing effective field goal percentage - which hits rock bottom with .471 in winning-time situations in the fourth quarter - takes him down a peg. Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia 76ers - True to form, a number of Sixers were in the general vicinity of this ranking. Yet, Holiday stood tops among them, notching the same number of winning-time points as Derrick Rose and Tony Parker, but on much more efficient shooting. LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers - Aldridge is the only player on this list who does not play for an elite team, and not coincidentally, is the only player on this list who functions as his team's sole star player. Superstars like James and Durant score throughout the game as a matter of unstoppable talent, and though Aldridge is spectacularly capable and productive in his own right, he does so more as a matter of necessity.