⏩ Ian Clark impresses:
Guard catches fire against old team.
NEW ORLEANS — In 2015, shortly after Ian Clark earned the Warriors’ final roster spot, head coach Steve Kerr stressed to him the importance of staying ready.
It was a role Clark embraced: As a reserve shooting guard for Golden State last season, he helped pace the second unit with 6.8 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting (37.4 percent from beyond the arc). Now, after failing to land any multiyear offers last summer, Clark is filling a similar role for the Pelicans.
In New Orleans’ 119-100 win over the Warriors in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Friday night, Clark showed his former team what it is missing. After scoring a combined nine points in Games 1 and 2, he was at his catch-and-shoot best, needing only 11 shots to score 18 points off the bench.
“I wanted to do whatever was necessary for the team,” Clark said. “We wanted to
kind of show what we can do, especially on our home court.”
Clark is accustomed to maximizing opportunities. Undrafted out of Belmont in 2013, he totaled 53 appearances in two seasons between Utah and Denver. It was only after beating out Ben Gordon and others in training camp three years ago that he earned Golden State’s 15th roster spot.
The departure of Leandro Barbosa to Phoenix freed up Golden State’s backup-shooting-guard job. And though Clark flip-flopped on the depth chart all season with rookie Patrick McCaw ,he proved that he belongs in the NBA.
In the Warriors’ first two games against Portland last season, Clark totaled 45 points on 17-for-19 shooting. In Golden State’s March 11 loss at San
Antonio, with Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala out, Clark scored 36 points in 34 minutes.
It was such a breakthrough season that the Warriors assumed he would warrant a multiyear deal in free agency. Because of how the team’s long-term financials stack up, Golden State opted to fill Clark’s spot with Nick Young for one-year, $5.2 million.
After waiting a month for a big payday, Clark eventually settled for a one-year, minimum contract with New Orleans. The chance to play alongside the pass-first Rajon Rondo and arguably the league’s best big man in Anthony Davis was his consolation.
“The thing I love about Ian is he’s a professional,” New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry said. “He wasn’t playing much early in the season, but he stuck with it. It’s paying off for him now.”
Pachulia plays: Center Zaza Pachulia made his first appearance in these playoffs Friday, posting three points, a steal and five rebounds in five garbage-time minutes.
“Zaza could not be a better leader and mentor to our young guys,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said pregame. “I haven’t played him a second in the playoffs based on matchups, but he’s been over there. Every day, he’s working his tail off advising the young guys. That’s what it takes to win a championship.”