I know, Wayne Ellington is just a role player on any team he’ll ever play with, but he’s swung a couple of games this season with his explosive shooting.

When he added three threes against Miami (bringing his total against the Heat to 10) it made me think, “Hmm, you know what? That Ellington’s pretty clutch. He might be the jazz musician in the NBA.”

So I did a little researching. All statistics are from Basketball-Reference unless noted otherwise. I love that site.

51 of Ellington’s 78 threes were against teams over .500. 10 of them came against two games versus Miami. His torching of anything Miami dates back to his time at Chapel Hill.

Cleveland hosts Miami on April 15. Watch out.

45 of his 78 threes have been made in wins, though he’s shooting 40.9% from three in wins and 41.8% in losses.

41 of his 78 threes have been made when winning or trailing by less than 5 points, but 41 threes have been made with over 6 minutes left in a quarter.

31 of his 78 threes have come in the fourth quarter. The next best number is the second quarter with 25.

Ellington has a 57.9 effective field goal percentage with less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock, according to 82games.com. His highest is actually 61.4 percent with 16 to 20 seconds left on the shot clock, but he attempts seven percent less of his shots in that time frame.

He’s also the 2009 Final Four Most Outstanding Player!!!

If college awards don’t lead to success at the professional level, I don’t know what does. (Sarcasm.)

Tagged: Cleveland Cavaliers, Kyrie Irving, Miami Heat, North Carolina Tar Heels, Wayne Ellington