Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson trying to stay aggressive amid recent struggles

Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson, right, goes up for a shot as Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas, of Lithuania, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson, right, goes up for a shot as Houston Rockets forward Donatas Motiejunas, of Lithuania, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

The shots left his fingertips, making Jordan Clarkson feel good every time about the outcome. But unlike nearly everything that has turned out for him in the past two months, those plays did not provide another moment that the Lakers’ rookie grew before everyone’s eyes.

Instead, the shots kept falling short. Once it all ended, the Lakers’ 91-86 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday at Staples Center featured Clarkson scoring 10 points on a 4-of-13 clip, marking his third consecutive game he has shot within the 30 percent range.

But as Clarkson hits a rookie wall that could partly entail fatigue, he has still exerted himself enough to still positively influence the game. Clarkson still finished with a near triple double with 10 points, a career-high eight rebounds and six assists.

“He played hard,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “He was out there doing the things he needed to do. He just didn’t have a good shooting night. But he guarded people and he made an effort on that department.”

Granted, Clarkson could not slow down Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder, whose 24 points on 7-of-16 shooting featured him driving past Clarkson for a left-handed layup that gave the Hawks a 87-83 lead with 13.9 seconds left. But Clarkson dropped four of his six assists in the final nine minutes. He also converted on the fast-break that included a coast-to-coast layup and a pull-up jumper. With the Lakers failing to produce quality ball movement partly because of poor screen setting, Clarkson also did not appear discouraged in creating open shots that usually fell short.

“I have to keep shooting,” Clarkson said. “I know they’ll fall. I have to stay confident. I kept going hard.”

The Lakers (17-48) have liked that Clarkson has kept going hard behind the scenes, too.

Well after the Lakers concluded practice on Saturday, Clarkson sat with Lakers development coach Thomas Scott and analyzed film on how he can improve his recent shooting struggles, his playmaking and his defense. Clarkson also reported to Saturday’s practice to squeeze in some early shooting in hopes to turn around his slump.

“This is great for him. He needs to keep learning as he goes along each day as he goes along in this league and what people will do against him,” Scott said. “The best thing about the kid is when he falls, he gets back up. He doesn’t lay down. He gets back up and keeps playing hard.”

That includes Clarkson relishing the challenge the Lakers will face in tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors (52-13) at Oracle Arena, where the Lakers rookie will have the unenviable task of guarding All-Star guard Stephen Curry.

“I’m just trying to improve and be the best player I can be,” Clarkson said. “I know if I continue to better myself individually, I can help the team.”

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com