Jordan Clarkson has been awful during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2018 run in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Still, the Mizzou-product appeared in all but one contest leading up to Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The one game he didn’t play was Game 2 versus Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals. Having said that, the obvious forecast would be for Clarkson to appear in Game 3 — but he didn’t. The 6-foot-5 guard, who is shooting just 30.1 percent in 19 postseason games, received a DNP. Rodney Hood, exiled from Tyronn Lue’s rotation prior to Game 3, seemingly played Clarkson’s minutes instead.

While the Hood-over-Clarkson news isn’t like, ground-breaking or anything. The fact that former NBA (and current ESPN star) Jalen Rose predicted the DNP, however, is pretty cool. In Bill Simmons’ podcast, released around 2 P.M ET before Game 3, Rose expertly called the move.

“He [Clarkson] plays like they’re not keeping score. Like, he’s just playing, and because of that, I would not be surprised if he gets a DNP tonight.” – Jalen Rose on The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Clarkson conversation starts at 23:15 with Bill Simmons saying that Clarkson had the “worst six minutes I’ve ever seen in my life in Game 1”, then Rose follows with his analysis. It should be noted that he did preface it by saying he hoped the young player would have a “successful NBA career”.

Listen to the full podcast below:

As always, The Bill Simmons Podcast appears on Simmons’ site, The Ringer. Rose, besides appearing in-studio during ESPN’s NBA coverage, is a co-host of Get Up! and Jalen & Jacoby.

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