Jordan Clarkson and the Knicks were supposed to be a match made in basketball heaven — a walking bucket joining the team that finished last in bench scoring a year ago.
It took a few weeks, but the fit is finally starting to look as good as it did on paper.
Clarkson has scored in double figures in three of his last four games, including back-to-back 15-point performances in the Knicks’ wins over the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. For a veteran scorer who led the NBA in total bench points over the past five seasons, it’s a welcome reminder of what he brings to the table.
“I don’t really curse no more,” Josh Hart said when asked to describe the Clarkson experience. “But f***** amazing. I love JC dog. JC man JC he’s a professional scorer so we want him to go out there and shoot the ball. We want him to be aggressive. We want him to play his game, and when he does that, he’s amazing for us.
“And defensively he’s been locked in. He’s been playing great defense on the ball in his shift in help and stuff like that. I love it.”
The adjustment period was inevitable. Clarkson averaged between 16 and 20 points per game in his last five seasons with the Utah Jazz, taking anywhere from 13 to 17 shots a night. With the Knicks, he’s averaging just eight attempts per game — and the early numbers reflected the learning curve: only 18 points total in his first three contests on 6-of-23 shooting from the field and 2-of-10 from deep.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown said the breakthrough — for Clarkson and the team as a whole — came when he trimmed the rotation and defined roles more clearly. The change came after New York’s 0-3 road trip, sparking two straight wins entering Wednesday’s matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“As the season goes along, everybody’s gonna get more comfortable. They’re gonna be able to find their spots,” Brown said after the win over the Wizards. “They kinda sorta knew when they were coming out, going in. They kinda, sorta knew who was playing together. So it’s a process of trying to get more familiar with what we’re doing on both ends of the floor, also with the rotation patterns.”
Clarkson agrees the clarity has helped.
“I think it is definitely something that helps the guys. But guys being in and out the lineup; Josh, Mitch [Robinson] being in and out. Those minutes being played here and there. You’ve got so many different combinations,” he said. “We’re just trying to get comfortable with playing alongside each other and finding our spots and doing what we do defensively. But I think we’re all buying in and trying to figure this thing out.”
The results back it up. Clarkson entered the Minnesota game ranked tenth among all bench players in total points (30) over their last two games — and he did it with the fewest shot attempts (19) of anyone in that group. Among bench players with 25 or more points in that span, only five, including Hart (26), shot better than Clarkson’s 57.9 percent from the field.
The 2021 Sixth Man of the Year believes the Knicks’ bench has the potential to be one of the team’s biggest strengths. Hart, Clarkson, and Miles McBride form the core second unit, while Landry Shamet’s role shifts depending on Mitchell Robinson’s availability. Guerschon Yabusele remains the small-ball option when Brown goes deeper into his bench.
“I think you go down the line of all the guys; we’ve got a lotta weapons. There’s a bunch of different combinations, very versatile,” Clarkson said. “So when those minutes come, I think we try to take advantage of it and impact the game in a positive way.”
And for Clarkson, there’s an added bonus — the energy of Madison Square Garden. Both of his 15-point outings came at home.
“It feels great. The fans, the atmosphere, just playing here, feeling that love here. It’s been amazing,” he said. “Just want to keep continuing to buy into the system, make shots when I’m open, play defense, rebound and keep continuing to play a role.”
