Jordan Clarkson has been everything the Utah Jazz hoped for, and then some

Portland, Ore. • As much as Thursday night was supposed to be a coronation of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, given their selections as reserves for the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, it was newbie sixth man Jordan Clarkson who stole the show for the Jazz in what would wind up a six-point loss to the Nuggets.

His 13-point first half pushed Utah out front, even as Mitchell struggled to get the ball to meet the net. And after Denver seized control with a 27-1 run, it was Clarkson’s 24-point outburst in the fourth quarter that rallied the Jazz and gave them a shot in a game that had appeared too far gone just minutes before.

Clarkson’s acquisition by the Jazz from the Cavs had initially prompted questions about his fit within coach Quin Snyder’s highly intricate and somewhat regimented scheme. After all, the thinking went, Clarkson was a freelancer, an empty-calories scorer, an unrepentantly shameless gunner. And yet, when a Cleveland-based reporter inquired about the fit after Thursday’s game, noting that Clarkson had not exactly been known as a “system guy” with the Cavs, Snyder interrupted, dismissing outright any notion of friction stemming from having to rein in the bad tendencies of his new guard.

“I love him. I love him. Look, write it down — I love him,” Snyder interjected. “Sometimes a system needs to be malleable. He’s unselfish, he attacks the rim and gets to the line. If a ‘system’ is defense, he’s embraced that. I think he’ll continue to learn some of the things that we want from our group, but I want him to be instinctive.”

Indeed, Clarkson’s ability to be unpredictable has bolstered a previously moribund second unit. In 18 games played with the Jazz since the trade, he has scored 15.1 points per game while shooting 46% from the field.

It was all on display at the Pepsi Center — off-the-bounce wizardry; shiftiness and slitheriness navigating the Nuggets’ defenses; irrational confidence beyond the arc (where he nailed 7 of 12 tries).

For his part, Clarkson said the freedom that Snyder has afforded him on the court went a long way in trying to bring the Jazz back against the Nuggets.

“When I’ve got space, coach is just telling me, ‘Let it go,’” he said. “I was just trying to do what I could do to impact the game. … I was just trying to pull us into the game where we’d have a shot at the end.”

Snyder, meanwhile, had no issues with the guard’s arguably-impetuous missed 3-pointer that effectively ended Utah’s last gasp.

“He brought us back in the game. So if he makes that shot … It seems like he’s being aggressive, and that’s what I want. He was terrific,” Snyder said. “… You can always be critical of a decision here, a decision there — sometimes when you’re critical, a guy’s making shots. They’re out there playing. He battled his tail off, he was aggressive, I thought he was really good.”

Afterward, Clarkson spoke publicly for the first time about the death of league icon Kobe Bryant — a man that he not only called a teammate but considered a friend.

Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash Sunday shook the Jazz guard, and he acknowledged that the subsequent days have been an emotional struggle.

“Kobe being one of my teammates, my mentor, it just hit me hard. I haven’t really spoke on it or said anything; I’m still just trying to process it. He was like Superman to me,” Clarkson said. “… It’s tough. But I know he would want us to keep going, keep hoopin’ and keep pushing.”

He certainly did that Thursday, earning further respect from his teammates for almost single-handedly powering them through.

“We wouldn’t have been there without him,” said Mitchell. “… I really respect him and his approach, ’cause we could have just easily hung it up and called it quits on the second night of a back-to-back.”

“He was huge,” added Gobert. “He hit big shot after big shot and gave us a little hope at the end.”

Snyder was impressed, too. Not merely because of what Clarkson did, but also because it made him recognize what Clarkson may yet be able to do.

“The opportunity to continue to get better is there for him offensively as well,” Snyder said, “which is a heck of a statement given what he did tonight.”