On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Los Angeles Clippers in an entertaining game. However, Jordan Clarkson was no happy about sitting down the stretch.
Against the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night, there were certainly plenty of storylines to go around for Los Angeles Lakers.
Monday marked the first game that Larry Nance Jr. was back in uniform after fracturing a bone in his hand. While Nance was out, it was Kyle Kuzma who stepped up for him in the starting lineup.
Despite Kuzma lighting it up as a starter, Luke Walton made the decision to start Nance. What was really shocking was to see Kuzma not on the floor at the end of the game. Also shocking was the fact that he only played 20 minutes.
In addition to Kuzma sitting down the stretch, Jordan Clarkson was also on the bench at the end of the game. After the game, Clarkson spoke openly about how he felt sitting on the bench down the stretch. Here’s what he had to say via Shahan Ahmed of NBC LA.
"“It tough as hell, to be honest with you,” Clarkson said after a long pause and a deep sigh. “Because I’m a competitor like everybody else in this locker room. You want to be on the floor. It is what it is. I can’t control nothing [sic] of what’s going on. [Walton] put the guys, he thought, on the floor that are going to win the game for us.”Clarkson repeated, “It is what it is.”"
Like Kuzma, Clarkson was playing very well for the Lakers throughout the game. In the loss, Clarkson ended up totaling 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in just 26 minutes of action. In addition to scoring 17 points, Clarkson was very efficient from the floor, as he shot eight-for-12 from the field.
Next: 3 Takeaways from loss to Clippers
What is likely frustrating for Clarkson was that he stayed on the bench in favor of Lonzo Ball. In the loss, Ball didn’t play particularly well, and he was certainly outperformed by Clarkson.
However, the Lakers are a young team, and getting Ball experience down the stretch in close games is very important for his development. While Clarkson likely gave the Lakers a better chance to win the game against the Clippers, it appears that Walton was looking at the big picture on Monday night.