Jordan Clarkson is helping the New York Knicks right now, but that help is unlikely to translate when the lights get brighter in the NBA Playoffs. His recent hot shooting has been timely and extremely valuable, but history says the Knicks cannot rely on it in the postseason, a cold, hard truth fans of Clarkson and the Knicks alike don't want to face.
Clarkson has been on an absolute tear from deep over the last 10 games, shooting north of 42% from behind the arc and providing instant offense off the bench. He has swung games that were drifting away, scoring 15 in the NBA Cup Championship, 18 in the following game against the Pacers, and 25 on Christmas vs. Cleveland.
For a Knicks team that has struggled to get scoring from its bench units, Clarkson's confidence and shot-making have been welcome additions. Clarkson fitting that role so well is exactly why he's in New York. At 33 years old, after five-and-a-half seasons in Utah and a Sixth Man of the Year award, his production slowed as the Jazz slid out of contention.
He took the veteran minimum to join the Knicks for a simple reason: they needed someone who could walk onto the floor and get buckets. That matters a lot when it comes to getting teams through the 82-game regular season. The concern starts when the calendar flips to April.
Regular-season success doesn’t guarantee postseason impact
Clarkson’s playoff track record is difficult to ignore. Across 43 postseason games, he has averaged just 11.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. More troubling is the efficiency numbers. He has shot just 41.3 percent from the field and only 32.9 percent from deep. Those numbers are not the result of one bad series: they span his entire playoff career.
Playoff basketball reduces any potential comfort on the court. Defenses tighten up, forcing tougher shots and targeting players with narrow roles. Clarkson’s game thrives on freedom and quick decisions. When that freedom disappears, his impact shrinks.
The truth is, he is neither a defensive stopper nor a primary playmaker. If his shots don't fall, there's not much else he can provide other than rim pressure. That alone is valuable and does not mean Clarkson is useless in the postseason, but the margin for error is even more narrow.
The Knicks will need bench scoring and the veteran can absolutely swing a quarter – or even steal a game. But expecting him to replicate his regular-season shooting against the most locked-in defenses might result in disappointment all around.
Clarkson is doing his job well right now. The hard part is the chance that the team mistakes a stretch like this for something sustainable when the games slow down and the scouting sharpens.