\u201cIt\u2019s a level of focus. I\u2019m glad to be back in this and part of this and back contending, be in the playoffs and know that we\u2019re playing for something,\u201d Clarkson said. \u201cThat changes a player\u2019s mindset. It\u2019s just a bunch of focus that goes into it and I\u2019m locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his final three seasons with the Jazz, the franchise was terrible and mostly tanking \u2014 the product of unloading the best two players, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, for rebuilding pieces. <\/p>\n
Clarkson missed 93 of his last 246 games with the Jazz, and his shooting percentage dipped to under 30 percent on 3-pointers and just 41 percent overall during the 2023-24 campaign.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/new-york-knicks-guard-jordan-115462236.jpg\")
Jordan Clarkson reacts during the Knicks\u2019 Nov. 14 win against the Heat. Jason Szenes for the NY Post<\/p>\n
As one NBA assistant called Clarkson\u2019s defense in Utah: \u201cDisgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it\u2019d be hard to blame Clarkson for apathetic play. <\/p>\n
Especially last season \u2014 when the Jazz were hell-bent on tanking to keep their first-round draft pick \u2014 the culture pushed apathy on its veterans. <\/p>\n
Clarkson\u2019s value dipped so low that the Jazz were forced to buy out his contract, rather than recoup assets in a trade.<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019s with the Knicks \u2014 a team with legitimate aspirations of advancing to the NBA Finals \u2014 and Clarkson entered Monday\u2019s game against the Heat shooting 39 percent on 3-pointers and 47 percent overall. <\/p>\n
If sustained, they\u2019d both be career highs \u2014 which is more impressive since Clarkson was shooting just 32 percent in his first five games with the Knicks.<\/p>\n
His scoring was down (from 16.2 points per game last season to 10.3 with the Knicks), but his shots were way down (from 13.3 to 7.7).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
His turnovers, which hit three per game in 2022-23, were under one per game heading into Monday.<\/p>\n
Clarkson said the dramatic efficiency increase is about the quality of shots that come with being surrounded by talent in a selfless system. <\/p>\n
With the Jazz, Clarkson frequently had to create shots for himself off the dribble and late in the shot clock.<\/p>\n
With the Knicks, he\u2019s scoring more off catch-and-shoot attempts and less on pull-up jumpers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think it\u2019s our system. I think we generate a lot of good shots. They\u2019re not good \u2014 they\u2019re great shots,\u201d Clarkson said. \u201cI don\u2019t really have to force as much and I\u2019m not in that position to do that on this squad. I don\u2019t get as many grenades [thrown a pass while defended with the shot clock dwindling], whereas I used to take four or five of those with under five on the clock. But when those opportunities come I\u2019ll try to make the best of those as well. We just have a good system and I\u2019m trying to take advantage every time I\u2019ve got it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defense is more about effort, which is easier to adopt when the team is playing for something.<\/p>\n
Clarkson entered Monday with a respectable, but hardly elite, defensive rating of 115.1.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/c-looks-drive-ball-past-115462704.jpg\")
Jordan Clarkson looks to drive with the ball during the Knicks\u2019 Nov. 14 game against the Heat. Jason Szenes for the NY Post<\/p>\n
It would be his best rating since 2022-23.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a different level of focus,\u201d said Clarkson, who also played with LeBron James in Cleveland. \u201cI\u2019ve been to the playoffs, been to the Finals, just getting back to that, it\u2019s relieving \u2014 gives you a reason to come out here and focus and put on that jersey and represent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mikal Bridges agreed, noting how coaches have more leeway when the team is successful.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s happening on and off the Garden court\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Last season, Bridges similarly joined the Knicks after leaving a tanking situation \u2014 in his case, with the Brooklyn Nets.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just demanding from the coaches, too. You can be more demanding on a winning team than a losing team,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cAnd be focused on what you\u2019re trying to get towards. Usually on winning teams, you\u2019re dialed in even more, just knowing you\u2019re trying to go as far as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with the higher level of focus, Clarkson understands there\u2019s a learning curve for himself and everybody else. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s played well through mid-November but hopes to peak in April.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when you want that thing flowing, getting ready for the playoffs, knowing what you\u2019re doing,\u201d Clarkson said. \u201cIn the playoffs you have to make adjustments, but I think we\u2019re starting to get a good feel of our offense and our defensive concepts. I know [coach Mike Brown] has a bunch of stuff that he still wants to throw in. We\u2019re just getting to the foundation of what we\u2019re doing. There\u2019s definitely a lot more basketball to play.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 Winning has done wonders for Jordan Clarkson\u2019s efficiency and defense. Coming off consecutive seasons of decline…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":386383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[24846,1260,3122,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-386382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-jordan-clarkson","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-new-york-knicks","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115567878372737839","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}