MANILA – Jordan Clarkson of Utah Jazz edged out newcomer Jalen Green of Houston Rockets in the first encounter among two Filipino-American players in the 2021-2022 NBA Season.
Clarkson tallied 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal as Jazz prevailed over the Rockets, 122-91, on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Green, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Rookie Draft, struggled with his offense. He ended up with 13 points, on 3-of-16 shooting, to go with three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
Clarkson, the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year awardee, said it was significant for him and Green playing in the first game with two players who have such heritage.
“The Filipinos love basketball,” Clarkson said. “Just us two being here is super inspirational for the youth and every Filipino-American, every Filipino, anybody with Filipino blood.”
“I feel like it’s just an amazing experience, something that can’t be done again because (it was) the first. Hopefully we see more,” added the one-time Gilas Pilipinas guard.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the way for the 4-0 Jazz with 19 points; Rudy Gobert had double-double 16 points and 14 rebounds; while Donovan Mitchell contributed 15 points.
Trailing 13-12 early in the game, the Jazz went on a rampage behind outside shots from Joe Ingles and Bogdanovic and inside hits by Gobert and Mitchell for a 61-40 halftime edge.
Utah continued its domination in the second half with reserves Hassan Whiteside, Eric Paschall and Clarkson drilling their shots as the lead grew to as high as 36 points.
Christian Wood finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, while rookie Alperen Sengun added 14 points, five rebounds and three steals as the Rockets dropped to 1-4./PN
