[ad_1]
NBA: Heartbreaking Game 7 loss ends Jordan Clarkson’s playoff campaign
Jordan Clarkson’s season in the NBA playoffs came to a heartbreaking end after the Utah Jazz were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets 80-78 in the seventh game of the first round of the Western Conference on Wednesday Manila time in Orlando.
The Fil-American point guard scored all of his 10 points in the first half, but it was barely used in the fourth quarter as the Jazz rallied from a double-digit deficit to take the lead.
Utah had a chance to advance to the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Clippers, but Mike Conley missed a straight three at the buzzer, giving Denver a 4-3 series victory.
Denver knocked out Utah despite falling behind 3-1 in the series, thanks to Jamal Murray’s scoring outburst.
Clarkson’s best play came in the second quarter when he took advantage of a three-point opportunity with a forehand dunk off Torrey with 7:06 remaining in the second quarter.
Utah, however, was still down 37-26 after Clarkson scored the additional free throw.
The Gilas Pilipinas team member for the 2018 Asian Games played nearly 25 minutes, but spent the rest of the game on the bench after being replaced by Joe Ingles with 10:56 left in the quarter.
Clarkson finished his second playoff appearance with averages of 16.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
He had two 20-point games during the series: 26 in Game 2 and 24 in Game 4.
His effort on both ends of the court has been noticed by his star teammate Donovon Mitchell, who said Clarkson was Utah’s “forgotten hero” after Game 4.
SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY NEWSLETTER
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
