113-105 win over the Celtics in TD Garden<\/a>.<\/p>\nClaxton recorded his first career triple-double (18 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds) in the Nets\u2019 first big win over a good team this season, while simultaneously avoiding elimination in the NBA Cup.<\/p>\n
To make it even sweeter, Claxton won the game ball in front of his parents, including his dad, Charles, who played for the Celtics.<\/p>\n
Nic Claxton dunks the ball during the Nets\u2019 Nov. 21 game against the Celtics. Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt amazing, so good. It was a good team win and everybody contributed. First triple-double in Boston,\u201d Claxton said after the win.<\/p>\n
\u201c[My parents] supported me since day zero so having them in attendance was great. We just gotta keep stacking,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019ve been playing a lot better these past few games, so we gotta keep trending in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the pro-tank fans, in their eyes, this win will do more bad than good in a race toward to the bottom, and a shot at the No. 1 draft pick in May. <\/p>\n
Nic Claxton attempts to block a shot during the Nets\u2019 No. 21 win over the Celtics. AP<\/p>\n
It put the Nets (3-12) back to fifth in the lottery odds \u2014 a half-game behind the fourth-place Kings (3-13).<\/p>\n
However, this was a confidence boost for the Nets. <\/p>\n
They showed growth, and to some, that is more valuable than winning the top pick. <\/p>\n
And for a young team with few veterans, it was thrilling for coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez to witness the team\u2019s long-contracted 26-year-old making progress.<\/p>\n
Nic Claxton looks to move the ball during the Nets\u2019 Nov. 21 win against the Celtics. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Nets have been looking to Claxton to become an elite defender since he signed a four-year, $100 million contract in the summer of 2024, which showed his commitment to being a foundational piece of the team\u2019s rebuild.<\/p>\n
There has especially been an emphasis on Claxton becoming a stronger rebounder. <\/p>\n
This season, he pulling down boards at a slightly higher clip per game (7.5) than last year (7.4), but still has a ways to go to get back to his career-high average (9.9) from the 2023-24 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In each of the last two games \u2014 both against Boston \u2014 the 6-foot-11 center has tallied 11 boards. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Fern\u00e1ndez wants him, and the playmaking growth has been an added bonus.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, all the credit to him. He\u2019s worked on, you know, his dribble handoffs, his low levels, his drives to the rim, being aggressive, and you put it together,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said after the game. \u201cNow, his rebounding is really taking the next step. That what I was on him. We needed him to rebound better. And look at the games that he does right, nine defensive rebounds. Then we won on the fast break, because he was really good on the boards and then you go on and on, like his screening, like you say, dribble hand-off assist. So the growth is great. I\u2019m proud of him. Very happy for him. And without him, we don\u2019t get this [win over Boston].\u201d<\/p>\n
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After 12 assists on Friday night \u2014 six of which came in the fourth quarter \u2014 the former 2019 second-round pick is averaging 4.4 assists per game this season, which is a career-high. <\/p>\n
His previous high mark was 2.2 assists per game from last season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m playing like that \u2014 getting all my teammates involved, getting myself involved, rebounding \u2014 it just makes the whole team better,\u201d Claxton said. \u201cThe more I can do that, the more it will put us in a situation to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his seven years with the Nets, Claxton has seen it all and has endured more losing than winning. <\/p>\n
For the short-term, he will savor this performance and win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope it\u2019s the first of many,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a performance Nic Claxton was \u201cflirting with\u201d throughout the season, he described on Friday. He knew…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,355,99,21,9,24,4601,63,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-49072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklyn-news","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nic-claxton","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}