Nic Claxton is ascending.<\/p>\n
Through his first 25 games this season,\u00a0the 26 year old, 6-11\u00a0Brooklyn Nets center, whom the team selected with the 31st overall pick in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft, is posting career highs across the board, including 13.4 points, 4.4 assists, 9.3 field goal attempts, 4.5 free throw attempts, 3.2 made free throws, and 2.7 offensive rebounds.\u00a0The longest-tenured Nets player has also notched his first two career triple-doubles, further cementing his rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just told him we\u2019re getting better and better at reading the defense,\u201d Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. said of the pair\u2019s growing chemistry\u00a0after a\u00a0119-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at home at the Barclays Center on December 6. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we\u2019re just learning each other\u2019s game a little more. He\u2019s looking for me out on the floor \u2026 I just feel like we\u2019re flowing better and we\u2019re kind of getting used to each other more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez has a similar view of Claxton\u2019s and Porter\u2019s improving synergy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they are building their relationship and you can see it,\u201d\u00a0said Fernandez after the Nets, who are 7-18 going into tonight\u2019s game in Brooklyn versus the Miami Heat, defeated the Pelicans. \u201c\u2026 It is Nick setting a good screen for Mike \u2026 or Mike is playing splits or a rip screen and he cuts to the rim and Nick finds (him). Nick is being aggressive to score, then the defense is up with him, so I like how the relationship is building right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Porter Jr., the Nets\u2019 leading scorer, is putting together an All-Star level\u00a0season.\u00a0The former Denver Nuggets player, who won a championship in 2023\u00a0with the franchise,\u00a0is averaging career highs in points (25.6) and assists (3.2).\u00a0Porter came to the Nets in a July trade with the Nuggets along with a 2032 first round pick in exchange for forward Cam Johnson. \u00a0<\/p>\n
After a horrendous 1-11 start to this season, Brooklyn is a respectable 6-7 since, and have won four of their last six games.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one, our veterans have done a great job of just staying the course,\u201d said Brooklyn assistant coach Steve Hetzel, who stepped up with head coach Jordi Fernandez out with the flu, after Sunday\u2019s 127-82 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. That contest saw a franchise record-tying nine players in double figures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve always bought into what we\u2019ve been doing, and they\u2019ve been patient with the process of allowing these younger players to grow, and through their leadership and Jordi\u2019s leadership, the ship never sank.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nets explosive (21.4) starting shooting guard Cam Thomas, who has been out since he suffered a left hamstring injury in early November, will be reevaluated in the next week and should be able to make a return soon. \u00a0It may be best for Fernandez to bring the ball-dominant, high-volume\u00a0shooting Thomas off the bench, so as not to upset the chemistry that continues to develop with the current starting lineup.<\/p>\n
After Miami on Thursday, Brooklyn will host the Toronto Raptors on Saturday before heading to Philadelphia to battle the 76ers next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Like this:<\/p>\n
Like Loading…<\/p>\n