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Jordan Clarkson tears it up in his debut for the Philippines

By Quenton S. Albertie

JAKARTA, INDONESIA - AUGUST 21: Jordan Clarkson #6 of Philippines in action during Basketball Men's Preliminary Round Group D match between Philippines and China on day three of the Asian Games on August 21, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images)
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - AUGUST 21: Jordan Clarkson #6 of Philippines in action during Basketball Men's Preliminary Round Group D match between Philippines and China on day three of the Asian Games on August 21, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images) /
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Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Jordan Clarkson, who is representing the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games, scored 28 points in a two-point loss to China.

In his debut for the Phillipines national team, Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Jordan Clarkson nearly led Gilas Pilipinas to an impressive comeback victory against China on Tuesday, knocking down five threes en route to a 28-point performance.

He had whoever guarding him on skates for most of the night, slicing and dicing past the three-point arc and pulling up for midrange shots that would make an analysts skin crawl and former teammate Kobe Bryant proud.

However, his most impressive stretch came in the third quarter, where he pulled up to hit four three-pointers in quick succession and scored 16 points to allow the Philippines to take the lead.

Had the Philippines given him an extra minute in crunch time, the turnovers that led to their loss may not have happened.

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Clarkson required permission from the Asian Games organizing committee, the NBA and the Cavs to represent the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games.

It almost didn’t work out.

Despite Gilas Pilipinas reserving a spot on their 12-man roster for Clarkson, who was named as the flagbearer and a team captain, the NBA initially barred Clarkson from participating in the event because it violated league rules.

It was only after seeing other NBA players on the roster of national teams that would be playing on the event that Clarkson was allowed to play.

A 6-foot-5 combo guard, Clarkson averaged 13.9 points last season and averages 14.1 points per game for his career. A “sixth man” style playmaker with microwave scoring abilities, seeing Clarkson tear it up for Gilas was good.

The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers — or anyone for that matter — saw him was the 2018 NBA Playoffs and, unfortunately, in the postseason was clanking everything in sight.

Clarkson averaged just 4.7 points per game while shooting 30.1 percent from the field. Never an elite facilitator, Clarkson didn’t try to adapt to going cold by getting his teammates involved either.

That wasn’t the case for Clarkson on Tuesday, with him moving the ball and knocking down plenty of jumpers.

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Clarkson and Gilas will play Kazakhstan next and get their chance to redeem themselves after a disappointing loss.