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SALT LAKE CITY — Jordan Clarkson was lost.
Collin Sexton and Walker Kessler walked onto the podium with their freshly won trophies in hand; Team Utah had just come from behind to win the Skills Challenge on All-Star Saturday Night. The team bested the Antetokounmpo brothers (with Jrue Holiday filling in for an injured Giannis) and a team full of rookies, but they had lost their teammate.
Clarkson was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he go the wrong way?" a reporter asked in jest.
"Just like in that first part," Kessler responded.
Saturday's night didn't start out great for Team Utah; it still ended A-OK. Actually, on second thought, it kind of ended the same as it started: with Clarkson being a little bit confused on where to go.
In the first round of the competition, which was a full court obstacle course, Clarkson took off going the wrong way on the dribbling portion.
"I don't usually stick to the script, so I just thought I would take my own route," he said, trying (and failing) to hold in laughter. "But they told me to go the other way. I had my ears in, and they were, like, wrong direction."
Suffice it to say, the first round didn't go the Jazz's way.
Good thing there were two other rounds to make up for it; and it was a good thing for Clarkson that both of those didn't require as much moving, because on this night, that detail was pretty important.
"I told them 'work smarter, not harder,'" Clarkson said "I said let's go to the easy round. We know we can pass, we know we can shoot the ball. All this movement, it's All-Star weekend — my body shut down."
Jordan Clarkson, who's clearly had some fun this weekend, on his, um, struggles in the first round: "I don't usually stick to the script."
— Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) February 19, 2023
That whole availability was hilarious. pic.twitter.com/bh7iqv6SLn
Funny enough, Clarkson was right.
"JC made a good point. He said he wasn't worried — second half team," Kessler said.
The Jazz won the passing contest to get back into the competition (with Kessler, surprisingly enough, leading the way). The event had three targets of differing sizes and different distances down the court. No player could pass from the same spot twice in a row.
The Antetkounmpos started things off and scored 84 points. The rookies — who won the first event — scored 78 points. The Jazz finished things off with a few late passes to score 88 points and win the event
So how hard was the passing?
"For guys like me that don't really pass much …" Clarkson said with a laugh.
That set the stage for the final event — a shooting contest that featured five numbered spots around the court. Each player had to shoot at least once, and the shots couldn't be taken from the same spot twice in a row.
Team Utah, which went last again, was really the only team to figure it out, and the Jazz won the contest — off a Kessler corner 3-pointer, no less — with a lot of time left on the clock.
"I came up with the strategy!" Kessler said.
Added Sexton: "Walk definitely came up with the strategy, and it worked; it definitely worked, and we give him credit."
He then turned to his rookie teammate and said: "This might be the last credit we ever give you."
Asked if the victory put more pressure on Lauri Markkanen to win the 3-point contest, Clarkson quickly responded with the affirmative.
"Yesterday, after I left all the parties and stuff at like 5 a.m., he (Markkanen) was still in there shooting racks and knocking it down. So he is ready," Clarkson said.
Markkanen just missed out on getting to the finals; he got knocked out when former Weber State guard Damian Lillard, who went last in the preliminary round, bested him (Lillard went on to win the contest, wearing a special Weber State jersey).
Markkanen finished with 20 points and tied for fourth.
"Yesterday, I was consistently hitting 28, 29," Markkanen said. "My best one was 34, but I knew it's gonna be different in the competition."
He said he had a target score of 25 for the opening round — which would have been enough to get him through. He was on pace to hit that but struggled on his final rack, which, unfortunately, was his money rack.
Markkanen, though, would like another shot at 3-point glory. He said he'd be more than happy to try again.
"Yeah, that was a lot of fun, and I think I can compete with those guys. It just wasn't my day today," he said.
