CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The overall percentages don't point to a skilled 3-point shooter. In the case of new addition Jordan Clarkson, it's quite the opposite actually.

A career 33 percent long-range bomber, the 25-year-old combo guard has never finished better than 34.7 percent -- a mark Clarkson set in his second season with the Lakers while taking 320 attempts. Prior to being traded on Feb. 8, part of a wacky day of activity for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Clarkson was connecting on just 32.4 percent beyond the arc.

But the Cavaliers' research -- going back a ways, when he first popped on their radar, even before that February day -- tells a different story.

It's led to the belief that in this system, on this team, in this particular role, Clarkson can be a respectable 3-point shooter. And thus far, even though it's an extremely small sample size and regression could be coming, the front office has been proven right. Not only is Clarkson shooting 52.3 percent from the field, but also he's hitting 40.7 percent from beyond the arc.

When contemplating the deal with Los Angeles, the Cavaliers honed in on Clarkson's catch-and-shoot numbers. They believed the numerous pull-up triples he was forced to attempt with the Lakers, who were in desperate need of his scoring and shot creation, brought his numbers down to an unsatisfactory level.

In Los Angeles, Clarkson was a paltry 19-of-77 (24.6 percent) on pull-up 3's. Meanwhile, he was 48-of-126 (38 percent) on catch-and-shoot tries.

They thought that catch-and-shoot skill would pair well alongside LeBron James, that Clarkson would have even more open looks in Cleveland than ever before.

In some ways, Clarkson's numbers here match what he did in Los Angeles, as he's made just 3-of-11 (22.2 percent) on those pull-up treys, while canning 8-of-16 (50 percent) on catch-and-shoots.

"From the summertime, I've been working on that," Clarkson told cleveland.com following the game. "In LA, I thought I was going to play full time at the 2-guard position so during the summer I worked a lot on that. Catch and shoot, coming off pindowns, corner fades and all that stuff. I was getting ready for that 2-guard position and it set me up for this success here."

It also paved the way for his biggest moment with the Cavaliers and allowed head coach Tyronn Lue to have enough confidence in Clarkson's outside jumper to keep 3-point specialist JR Smith on the bench with the Cavs in need of a hoop in a one-possession game late.

With a little more than a minute remaining, after James drove to the basket and missed his shot, he grabbed the rebound before snapping the ball to George Hill on the wing. In the midst of his best game this season, Hill passed up the look, as he saw the defender closing out hard and instead quickly tossed it to Clarkson, who canned the 28-footer before celebrating with his stick-a-fork-in-them taunt.

"I feel like he's got the confidence in me to knock those shots down," Clarkson said. "Kyle (Korver) was in the game. Anybody could've got them shots. Rod Hood was in the game, G Hill. I just happened to be open and made it."

As much as the Cavs have raved about Clarkson's attack mentality, admitting they need to put in more sets to bring out his aggressiveness, they have quickly realized he can be just as effective playing off the ball. A number of the staff members, including those in the front office, can quickly point out his 3-point percentage when playing this way.

Even Lue, who isn't always fond of numbers, smiled when asked at practice on Monday. He then went through the numerous shots that stand out to him.

"(Against San Antonio) he had three 3's in a row when he was off the ball," Lue said. "In Memphis, LeBron hit him a few times off the ball. If you think about it in Boston, those three plays we had in pick-and-roll, with single-side bump he got three 3's so he's great playing off the ball."

Now they can add another -- the clutch 3-pointer against Brooklyn -- to that list. Not what many would expect from a career 33-percent marksman.

"I mean, that's what (matters)," James said about the new guys, including Clarkson, stepping up in pressure moments. "Anytime you get a close game, no matter what part of the season we're in, no matter the competition, to see guys rise to the occasion you know what can happen later on. And every guy that was on the floor tonight at the end of the game felt just as comfortable as the start of the game and that's definitely great to know."