The Los Angeles Lakers have six games remaining for the season. As the team put up an embarrassing performance Sunday, Jordan Clarkson will be looking to put up a better outing when the team takes on the Los Angeles Clippers for the second time in three nights Tuesday.
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Especially after being recently named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for March, Clarkson has become an important piece for the Lakers. It showed against the Clippers when the defense took the rookie out of his game. According to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, Clarkson believes he will bounce back when the two teams meet again:
I can definitely redeem myself,” Clarkson said. “We’re going to attack and play aggressively. All I was thinking about after the game was (Tuesday). I just got to come back and play better.”
Chris Paul held Clarkson to just two points on one-for-six shooting, far below his season averages. On top of stopping him defensively, Paul also have Clarkson a first-hand lesson on how to play the point guard position:
Chris puts everything together throughout the game. He got his team whatever they wanted,” Clarkson said. “You can see the impact he has without even scoring.”
Ever since taking over starting duties, Clarkson has had to go up against the league’s best point guards and has been able to hold his own. After the way Paul dominated the game Sunday, it should come to no surprise that Clarkson would want to learn from him. Even head coach Byron Scott thought his rookie should model his game after Paul.
The Lakers will look forward to including Clarkson in their future plans. Should the rookie continue to grow, it’s not out of the question that he could be just as important to a winning team. The upcoming off-season is an important one for the Lakers. With ample cap-space and draft picks, the team will continue its rebuild with Clarkson on the roster.
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