TORONTO -- The playoffs have not been kind to Jordan Clarkson.

Through eight games now, Clarkson is averaging 4.5 points on .319 shooting. He was second in the NBA in bench scoring during the regular season (13.9 ppg), and his scoring only fell off by a couple points (from 14.5 per game to 12.6) when he was traded from the Lakers to the Cavs on Feb. 8.

Clarkson is 25 and this is his fourth pro season, but first playoff run. The shots and space that were there for him during those lonely losses with the Lakers aren't there in the pressure of the postseason.

He's had one game out of eight where he scored in double figures or shot 50 percent from the field -- and that was in Game 4 of the first round against Indiana (12 points, 5-of-9 shooting). He was 2-of-7 for five points in just 12 minutes of the Cavs' 113-112 overtime win in Game 1 over the Raptors Tuesday.

"My stuff is kind of in spurts," Clarkson said on Wednesday. "I'm in there a couple minutes, come in, come out, just got to find a rhythm to be honest with you. Scoring-wise, I feel like shots will fall. But other than that, I'm just trying to impact the game any other way I can, if that's rebounding, try to pressure the ball, just try to get in the game mentally that way more than just kind of scoring and doing what I regularly do."

All was not lost for the Cavs' second unit on Tuesday, even with Clarkson's struggles. One of coach Tyronn Lue's big adjustments from Round 1 was to stagger LeBron James' minutes so he was on the floor with the second unit to start the second and fourth quarters, and Cleveland's reserves outscored the Raptors' bench 37-35.

Lue's message to not only Clarkson -- but Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr. and any Cav who perhaps wasn't ready for the intensity of the playoffs when they started a couple weeks ago -- is that teams will try to take away what they do best.

Lue credited Clarkson with trying to do things other than score the ball, such as pressure the opposing ball handlers for longer stretches on the court. Clarkson mostly guarded Toronto's Fred VanVleet in Game 1, and VanVleet scored four points with an assist in 13 possessions against Clarkson.

"He's going to make some mistakes," Lue said. "That's part of it. We got to let him play through some of those mistakes. As long as he gives us the effort on the defensive end, competing, that's all we can ask for. We know he'll make shots at some point."

When the playoffs started, Lue said he would try to play Jose Calderon on the second unit with Clarkson so he wouldn't have to handle the ball and could score from the two-guard spot. Lue's gone away from that entirely, in part because Calderon had to start games 4-6 of the Pacers series.

Hood, meanwhile, has been about as ineffective as Clarkson. Though Hood played in the playoffs with Utah last year, he too has struggled in his first stint with the Cavs, averaging 5.8 points and shooting .432 from the field (2-of-14 on 3s).

Lue said of Hood: "They're going to be grabbing and pulling and holding, so you got to get used to that and just play through the physicality of the game."

Feel free to read between the lines there.

As for Clarkson, he admitted he was a little nervous when the playoffs started. It's different being on the court with James and a trip to the Finals seemingly riding on every possession, instead of watching them on the couch in L.A.

"It's definitely a good feeling coming in the arena, feeling that energy from the crowd and seeing how your teammates prepare," Clarkson said. "It was just the kind of thing I had to break in and get my feet wet a little bit. But I'm gonna find my way."