Utah Jazz stud: Jordan Clarkson
Give Jordan Clarkson credit: he almost always ends up in these articles. It’s just been too frequently in the “dud” department. On the plus side, he’s trending towards making more appearances in the stud category of late.
Clarkson had one of his best games of the season last night, finishing with 21 points on 8/14 shooting from the field and 3/5 shooting from downtown. He also chipped in a solid 4 rebounds and 3 assists without turning the ball over.
When it comes to a volume scorer like Clarkson, observers can reliably expect him to play the same way every night. He’s going to look to score whenever he’s on the court, and if the last shot didn’t fall, he expects that the next one will.
It can be a frustrating brand of basketball, but at the same time, shot creators are a necessary component of winning NBA games. Clarkson creates them as well as anybody in the league, and when they’re going in, he can be a dominant offensive force.
Such was the case last night. Clarkson went deep into his bag with an array of floaters, reverse layups and pull up jumpers. He reminded Utah Jazz fans why he was last season’s Sixth Man of the Year winner, if they’d even forgotten in the first place.
All told, Clarkson has at least boosted his three-point percentage on the season over the 30% threshold by now (30.5%). That’s still subpar, but the fact that he’s trending upwards is encouraging.
When he’s on, he’s a certified third offensive option on a Utah Jazz team in need of one.