Jordan Clarkson has come a long way from getting entirely phased out of the Knicks' rotation. Since his re-introduction to meaningful minutes during the Knicks win over Denver on March 6th, he's played his way into the Knicks playoff rotation, according to Mike Brown.
The Knicks ran a nine-man rotation in their victory over the Hawks Monday night. The four bench players who saw court action were Robinson, McBride, Shamet and Clarkson. Brown told reporters before the Knicks' Thursday night win over the Celtics that those four, along with the starting five, are expected to comprise the playoff rotation.
"Those guys are probably our top nine, and when you're talking about playoffs, it's hard to play more than nine guys. So, trying to find a way to get those guys on the floor, with the right cominations at the right times, is something that I'm messing around with. It's close, might be a few things I may change," Brown said.
New-look Jordan Clarkson has been really good for the Knicks
Since re-joining the rotation in early March, Clarkson has made a few changes to his game. The veteran guard is shooting the ball more efficiently, making 54% of his shots compared to 43%.
Clarkson has been trading threes for twos recently, shooting just one 3-pointer per game as opposed to more than three. His average number of shot attempts has remained about the same overall, suggesting that simply taking a higher proportion of his shots from inside the arc has been a main factor in that improved efficiency.
In the plus-minus department, Clarkson has improved from +8 before early March to +100 since. When taking a look at his recent impact in that category, it seems like Mike Brown might've had an easier decision than some fans may think when adding Clarkson to the playoff rotation.
Adding Clarkson to the postseason rotation is a no-brainer.
Brown made it clear that he has a specific number in mind when capping the amount of players who will see playoff action: nine. Clarkson made the cut over other notable players on the Knicks depth chart, such as Jose Alvarado, Tyler Kolek, Mo Diawara, and Jeremy Sochan.
Considering none of those other players have had the statistical impact that Clarkson has shown for the final month of the regular season, it makes perfect sense for him to make the cut. Only time will tell if Clarkson's regular-season evolution carries into the postseason, but one thing is certain. He's earned his way into the playoff rotation. It definitely wasn't handed to him.