LOS ANGELES — Desperately searching for offense, the Knicks dusted off little-used guard Jordan Clarkson on Sunday.
The guard logged 10 minutes — including eight in the fourth quarter — and was largely productive while scoring nine points on 3-for-4 shooting.
However, the Knicks were too deep in a hole by the time Clarkson was inserted. They were plus-four in Clarkson’s minutes but lost to the Lakers 110-97.
“He’s a guy we can lean on. He can put the ball in the hole,” said Brown, whose team trailed by as many as 23 in the third quarter. “We were struggling to do that. So I threw him out there to see if we can mix it up. He definitely helped us. But it was too big of a deficit if you’re talking about 20 points to try to come back from versus a good team on their home court.”
Before Sunday, Clarkson was pulled from the rotation and hadn’t played meaningful minutes in weeks. It was a surprise since Clarkson was considered a significant part of the plans before the season, but Brown said he’s facing a numbers crunch.
“It’s hard to play 10 guys. It’s hard to play nine guys,” the coach said. “So right now we got our starting group, we got [Mitchell Robinson], Landry [Shamet] has been playing well. And we need a backup point guard and Jose [Alvarado] has played well. Now you’re talking nine, 10, 11. And we got a young kid in Mo Diawara who has played really, really well. … So it’s just a matter of circumstance based on available time.”
Brown said he’s more taken aback by seeing Bronny James in the NBA than his dad, LeBron James, still playing at 41 years old.
“The crazy part for me is when you see players who you’ve coached and then your kids are playing in the NBA, that’s a little freaky for me,” said Brown, who coached LeBron in Cleveland. “Because it tells me I’m old. But then I go to the bathroom, I shave all my gray hairs off so it helps me believe I’m not old. But his son playing in the NBA is mind-blowing and that impacts me more than him retiring.”
LeBron did not play Sunday because of a foot problem. Bronny was inactive after being sent to the G-League.
