Jamal Crawford Wins NBA’s Sixth Man Award

As expected, the NBA announced that LA Clippers guard Jamal Crawford is the top sixth man Thursday. Crawford won the award back 2009-10 while playing for the Atlanta Hawks, and joins Kevin McHale, Ricky Pierce and Detlef Schrempf as the other two-time winners. From the press release:

Crawford, who led all NBA reserves in scoring (18.6 ppg), came off the bench in 45 of 69 games he appeared in, helping the Clippers finish with their best record in franchise history (57-25). Additionally, he set the Clippers’ single-season franchise record for three-pointers made with 161, surpassing the record he set a year ago. In doing so, he moved into 11th place on the NBA’s all-time three-pointers made list with 1,697.

The 2013-14 season is Crawford’s second in Los Angeles, one in which he finished as the NBA’s fourth leading scorer in the fourth quarter (6.8 points). He was one of only two players in the top 12 who played more games as a reserve than as a starter.

Crawford amassed 57 first-place votes and 421 total points from a panel of 125 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.

In order to be eligible for this award, players were required to have come off the bench in more games than they started. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

Crawford tallied double-figure scoring efforts in 15-of-16 January games, as the Clippers posted a 12-4 record. On Jan. 25, Crawford poured in 37 points and handed out 11 assists in a 126-118 win over the Toronto Raptors. The 37 points were the most scored off the bench in his career and the most he has tallied in a Clipper uniform. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no player other than Crawford has ever had at least 31 points and 11 assists in a game that he did not start. Crawford did so twice (Jan. 25 and Nov. 29 when he had 31 points and 11 assists against the Kings). For the season, he posted 20-plus points 29 times and 30-plus points six times. The Clippers were 31-14 (.689) in games in which Crawford appeared off the bench.