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SALT LAKE CITY — Ed Davis looked to the side. Actually, it was more of a side-eyed glance.
Davis had just been asked how Jordan Clarkson could help the bench’s scoring issues. And, to him, the answer was obvious.
“I mean, you know,” Davis said. “You don’t gotta play dumb. You know we’ve been struggling scoring off the bench, so he’s going to help a lot.”
Entering Thursday’s 121-115 home win against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Utah Jazz were 28th in the league in bench scoring. And with Mike Conley being out with an injury, it was getting harder and harder to pinpoint who, if anyone, on the bench could provide some consistent scoring.
That has cost the Jazz leads. It has cost them wins. It has cost the starters valuable rest.
“There was a little bit of a duh-factor being 28th in bench scoring,” Utah executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey said. “We needed to add someone that could just go and get a shot.”
Enter Clarkson.
Jazz fans got the full Jordan Clarkson Experience on Thursday. His first shot attempt was an off-balance floater that somehow bounced in. He beat the shot clock buzzer with a 3-pointer that he created entirely by himself by shaking the defender with a quick step to his left.
He also missed open 3s and failed to register an assist in 21 minutes of play.
But he went out and got a shot. Clarkson was 4 of 12 in his Jazz debut. Those 12 shot attempts made up for more than half of Utah’s bench's field goal attempts. And that’s just what the Jazz want.
“He’s a bucket, man,” Davis said (or did he mean “Bucket Man”?). “He’s going to come in and fill the stat sheet up. That’s his job and that’s what he’s going to do.”
There will be moments of brilliance, like his smooth, scooping layup. And moments of frustration with his ball-stopping and at-times frantic shots. But all in all, he’s a piece — warts and all — the Jazz have needed.
Clarkson was uneven in his debut. But that was to be expected. Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder said that he would “throw him in the fire” and more or less let him be who he is — at least for Thursday’s game.
“He’s been in the league and he’s played in good programs,” Snyder said. “You may call it something different, but not to be too hung up on execution in those areas. Just kind of understand that it is a process. Whether it’s practice or post-practice or individual film, all those things where he can sit down with the playbook and go over with a coach. But again, to put too much in his head is counterproductive.”
Snyder and the Jazz front office had conversations about bringing in Clarkson over the summer, so trading for him shouldn't be seen as a desperate play. And the Utah brass has been encouraged by Clarkson’s shot distribution this season — he’s mostly abandoned long mid-range shots — and is hopeful that will continue with his new team.
“It’s going to take him a little time to get comfortable in some respects but also don’t want him to overthink it as well,” Snyder said. “He can be instinctive and be himself.”
He was himself — for better or worse — on Thursday. He helped the much-maligned Jazz bench push the lead to 15 at the end of the first quarter. But he was also on the court as Utah’s bench was outscored 17-4 to start the fourth quarter leading to a scare down the stretch.
So maybe the question is valid after all. How much will Clarkson help? After one game, that’s still to be determined.
