Burns a potential playoff difference-maker
Jordan Burns played the minimum to qualify for playoffs. His last two regular season games? He dropped 34 and 32 points — against rival Sudbury. Is he the shooter London has needed all season?
Jordan Burns, who debuted for the Lightning May 1, has G League experience with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs organizations. (Photo: Bruce Laing).
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Here’s what you get with Jordan Burns.
You’re looking at a 6-foot American with a high basketball IQ on both ends of the floor. He might be the best defensive guard in the league, a pure point and playmaker who prides himself in creating shots for his teammates. Think Chris Paul in black and gold.
When coming out of university, NBA scouts called Burns an agile, skilled playmaker who can shoot and score. While he might lack the ideal size for his position at the highest level, he was still projected as a solid bench guard in the NBA.
And the funny thing is, London fans barely know the guy.
Now, only four regular season games and one playoff contest into his NBL Canada career, Burns might be the final piece the Lightning need to secure their fifth championship.
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Burns, 24, was a four-year starter for the Colgate Red Raiders. As a senior, he averaged 16.8 points, 5.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game and was named the Patriot League Player of the Year. While he went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, Burns landed NBA G League gigs with the Maine Celtics and Austin Spurs.
Those stops have been huge in shaping the player you see on the court today.
“Coming from Colgate, a smaller college, we didn’t have as many super-athletic guys – those freaks of nature. But when you get in the G League, you realize there’s some of those guys on every team that have elite athleticism, guys who have parts of their game that’s hard to mimic if you don’t have that type of athleticism,” Burns said. “Getting in that league allowed me to learn the speed of the game. Obviously, at Colgate, we played fast, but this was a different type of fast. It’s guys taking ball the ball at the rim, one pass, then a shot. Seeing that speed has helped me slow down the game when I play everywhere else. It has helped me with my patience.”
How does he recognize “those freaks of nature”? Pretty simple, actually, as they’re the ones doing things you didn’t think possible.
“You know those guys that go up and make a block at the top of the square? Or guys who take a regular play and then make something crazy happen? You know those guys who make you say, ‘wow’?” Burns laughed. “We have guys like that on this team: Jermaine Haley. Cam Forte. Terry Thomas. Amir Williams. Chris Jones. You’ve got some guys who are really, really good – guys who are G League-level players who have some things to their game that are special.”
When Lightning guard Jaylon Tate was ruled out for the year, Lightning coach Doug Plumb started working the phones – with little time to spare. He knew that any replacement needed to play four regular season games to qualify for the postseason. Tate and Burns shared an agent, Green Sports Management, so making the move north was smooth – and quick.
(Photo: Bruce Laing).
Burns made his debut on May 1 against the Windsor Express. Since then, he’s been an incredible add.
In four regular season games, Burns averaged 21.8 points, 4.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. He shot 55.8% from the floor and 44.8% from beyond the arc. He ended the season with back-to-back 30-plus-point efforts against Sudbury – dropping 34 on The Five in their house and then another 32 points back home at The Bud. He was a combined 12-for-21 from 3 in those two games.
London seems to have found its shooter. But how the heck did it happen so fast?
“Jordan’s a true pro. He’s been playing this game for a long time,” Plumb said. “He’s a really high-level guy who does his work on his own to get up to speed. These guys have been playing against the other guys in this league now for four or five times. To get ready for the playoffs, he needed to watch film and get up to speed on people’s mannerisms and tells. He couldn’t go through two or three games and then understand what was going on, because by then, the series is over.”
On Sunday, in London’s playoff opener, Burns was slow to work himself into the offense, failing to tally a point until the fourth quarter when he nailed a 3-pointer five minutes in. London took Game 1 of its first-round matchup against the Express, 106-99. Burns finished the game with 8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal in 30 minutes of play. He was 2-3 from 3-point range.
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We don’t need to rehash the problems, but let’s just say that injuries and attitudes have cost London in the backcourt all season. They’ve not been a serious threat from 3 since the start of the season. The buzzer-beater addition of Burns, however, has amped up the excitement of having finally solved the issue.
“Shooting the ball has been something I’ve been doing well since my college days,” Burns said. “For me, scoring is always something I can get into during the flow of a game. Obviously, scoring is not the biggest thing I think about too much, but if I can get going, pick my spots right, and make sure that the floor is always spread, I can take my shots with confidence.”
That holds especially true from long distance, where he has needed to shine since the start.
“I pride myself on 3-point shooting. I work on it a lot,” he said. “Beyond the arc, that’s the hardest shot to defend. Guys have to decide if they want to go over or under screens. It changes the way a guy in front of you has to defend you. Being a guy who is 6-foot, I have to be able to shoot the ball. I know that is going to help this team a lot because I’m gonna be able to spread the floor for other guys.”
Four games doesn’t seem like enough time to mesh with a team that has been together for four months. It must be difficult to become part of its off-the-court culture, let alone its on-the-court flow. But it’s all part of the game for Burns.
“Do you play basketball? Are you on my team? I want you to win regardless of if I know you for an hour or 15 years. So, for me, it’s not been too hard. Obviously, coming into the team that’s winning helps a lot, too. The camaraderie they have already,” he said.
“These guys have been playing together for a while, but just knowing different guys’ history, knowing what guys do, learning their games a little bit, that’s the main thing. I need to know my personnel, knowing who is on the floor and who can do what, that’s been the biggest thing for me. Learning the plays comes next: what plays we’re running, learning sets, different reads, things like that. Defense is universal. Wherever you go, you can play defense, so that’s one thing that doesn’t really have to be learned at all. You just get in there and do what you can.”
In just a few weeks, Burns has already noticed that the NBL Canada can be a dangerous league at times.
On Sunday, the Lightning had six players register double-digit scoring efforts, led by Amir Williams’ 22 points. The Express nearly matched that effort with five scorers in double digits, led by Jachai Taylor’s game-high 23 points.
Those results hold true to what Burns has already identified as the league’s strength.
“There’s a little more freedom in this league. There are a lot of guys on a lot of teams in this league that can get going. It’s not one or two guys; it’s five or six guys who could probably have a 30-point night,” he said. “That’s unique about this league – there are a lot of guys who can come here and score the basketball, guys who can get going in a multitude of ways. Guys who can step back and hit a 3. Guys that pound in the paint. Guys that can get downhill and shoot the floaters or little side steps. There’s a lot of dangerous skill in this league, for sure. A lot of skill offensively.
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Some guys might feel the pressure of parachuting in to be a backcourt saviour. But don’t talk to Burns about pressure. He doesn’t feel it at all.
“I put the most pressure on myself to perform. I hold myself to a certain standard. I feel like I have to prove it every single time I am on the court regardless of what the situation is,” he said. “There’s almost no pressure that can be given to me that I probably don’t already put on myself anyway.”
Throughout the course of a game, you’ll hear Burns at some point, as he’s not exactly a quiet guy – which fits into this team perfect.
“At some point in every game, I am going to have moments where I realize how much better I am than whoever I’m playing, how much extra work I put in versus them. Those moments just come in the flow,” he said. “Those moments can come from me getting a steal by diving on the floor or hitting a couple of big shots in a row to taking a charge or making a good screen. If you don’t know the game of basketball, you might not notice all the little things that go on throughout the game, that make the game what it is.
“For me, I’m never about the biggest moment. I’m never about being ‘the guy’ that wants all the credit. I want to be the guy that does the most to help the team win whatever way that is. I hate losing.”
Gameday in 5: Lightning win season opener in Sudbury, long layoff ahead; Knights move into first place in OHL; FC London players win end-of-season awards; And more …