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OKLAHOMA CITY — Jordan Clarkson went up with his right hand, but quickly pulled the ball back and switched it to his left.
It was kind of reminiscent of the famous up-and-under from Michael Jordan in the Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers — except Clarkson didn't try to finish the play with an acrobatic layup. Instead, he lobbed a pass over the Oklahoma City defense to an open Kelly Olynyk in the corner.
"I think Jordan has done a really great job of sort of trying to have a little bit of humility on the offensive end at times," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "I think the thing that has improved the most as the seasons have gone is finding players on the weak side of the floor."
That weakside pass to Olynyk ended up being a career-high 12 assists in Utah's 129-119 loss to Oklahoma City at Pacom Center.
Due to injuries and a midseason trade that shrunk the roster, the Jazz have now slid into a tie for 10th (the final play-in position) in the West. Utah has a difficult schedule to finish off the season with 15 of its last 18 games against teams competing for playoff spots.
There just aren't many wins to pencil in on the schedule, especially if Lauri Markkanen isn't available, like he wasn't for Sunday's game against the Thunder due to lower back soreness. So the final six weeks might just end up being learning experiences.
"I think, in general, we played three quarters of pretty good basketball. We just put ourselves in a big hole to start the game," Hardy said.
The Jazz trailed by 15 after the first quarter, and held serve from there — and even scored 99 points over the final three quarters — but just couldn't ever figure out a way to stop Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (38 points and seven assists), or, at the very least, stop fouling him. Gilgeous-Alexander went to the free-throw line 19 times by himself on Sunday.
Still, Hardy credited his team for responding to the tough opening quarter, even with the play-in opportunity slowly starting to slip away from the upstart Jazz.
"If you put yourselves in a big hole to start, it's hard to claw your way back, but I thought the intent of the team was very good," Hardy said.
Indeed — especially when it came to Clarkson, who returned after missing the last two Utah games (both losses) with a sprained right thumb.
The usual run-and-gun shooting guard held his thumb often over the course of the game and admitted he's still getting used to playing with it wrapped up. That might help explain why he went 0-for-5 from deep on Sunday. That might have also played a role in him dishing out more assists than he ever has before — though, he thinks it was just the nature of how the game went.
"They were pulling in a lot, helping, just trying to make the right play," Clarkson said of the Thunder.
And he did so by showcasing a passing flare that is quite special. That up-and-under pass to Olynyk corner? Not many can make that pass. The same can be said about a full spring lob pass he made to Walker Kessler later in the second quarter, and a drive-and-kick wraparound assist to Onlynk late in the game.
For a team that is hurting for a point guard, it might not be the worst thing to let Clarkson run the show for a bit — something many people wouldn't have suggested before the season.
"As a coach, I never want to be somebody that restricts our players and sort of puts them in a box or too tight of a lane," Hardy said. "And Jordan's somebody that's had the reputation his entire career being like a huge scorer. I think it's more just about trying to help him understand the ways that he can help our team."
And Clarkson can do much more than just run and gun.
"I never passed the ball that much in my life," he joked after hearing it was a career-high in assists. "Just trying to get the ball moving, get us open looks when I had the chance."
And that gave the Jazz, at least, a little bit of a chance on Sunday.
