Jordan Clarkson has become a revelation for the New York Knicks by doing all the things he’s not known for—defense, offensive rebounding, and scoring at the rim. Now, in light of OG Anunoby’s potential absence, they need him to do something else for which he’s not known: taking and making threes.
Not one for being shy, Clarkson is averaging just a single long-range attempt per game in the postseason. Adjusting for playing time, this comes out to a mind-boggingly low 2.6 three-point tries per 36 minutes. That’s fewer triples per minute than not-so-noted snipers like Robert Williams III (3.3) and Dyson Daniels (3.0) averaged in the first round.
To be fair, the low volume can be (somewhat) forgiven. Clarkson is cutting his teeth by jockeying for position on the offensive glass. He actually led the Knicks in friendly-fire boards during their Game 2 victory.
The efficiency is less forgivable. Clarkson has missed all eight of his treys in the playoffs. Though he’s always been streaky from the perimeter, this is nightmarish even by those standards. And it stands to threaten his spot in the rotation for the rest of the Philadelphia 76ers series—and perhaps beyond.
The Knicks have to prioritize shooting without OG Anunoby
It would be a genuine shock if Anunoby suits up in Philly for Game 3. Or, for that matter, Game 4.
Hamstring strains are fickle, and seldom day-to-day. A one-week absence is relatively optimistic under certain circumstances, and that’s before considering Anunoby’s history. He suffered a left hamstring strain in 2024 that effectively ended his postseason. While it’s his right hamstring this time, the concern stands.
Losing Anunoby’s defense comes as a huge blow. But his offense is now similarly critical to New York. His 21.4 points per game are second on the team, behind only Jalen Brunson, and he’s shooting a team-best 53.8 percent from beyond the arc while having made more triples than all but six players in the entire league.
Navigating Anunoby’s absence must be done by committee, and it will be a genuine shocker if Clarkson gets the starting nod should the former miss time. That honor will go to Deuce McBride, or even Landry Shamet.
Both get up at threes at a higher clip from Clarkson. The same goes for Jose Alvarado. In fact, Ariel Hukporti and Mitchell Robinson are the only players on the roster averaging fewer three-point attempts per 36 minutes than Clarkson.
Jordan Clarkson’s iffy shooting is already costing him
Reducing JC’s utility down to three-point shooting is yucky. Still, the playoffs are all about minimizing weaknesses. And limited shooters devolve into some of the weakest links this time of the year, almost regardless of how they defend.
We have seen the Detroit Pistons futz around with Ausar Thompson’s crunch-time role. New York watched the Atlanta Hawks do the same with Dyson Daniels. Mike Brown is prone to yanking Mitchell Robinson if Maul-a-Mitch is enacted. So on and so forth.
Clarkson’s hesitance and misfires from three have entered similar territory. He racked up a postseason-low eight minutes and didn’t log a single second in the second half during the Knicks’ Game 2 win. Brown was more inclined to go with Alvarado and Shamet.
That same decision may have kept being made even if Anunoby never got hurt. But he did. The urgency for operable spacing is only greater now. So if Clarkson doesn’t prove to be a more viable threat from deep soon, he may find himself on the outskirts of the Knicks’ rotation. Again.