Nic Claxton returned to the Nets’ starting lineup, seemingly for good, on Friday against the Boston Celtics. That meant Ben Simmons, who had started six games at center this season in place of a limited Claxton, came off the bench for the first time in 2024-25.

It was painfully obvious that Claxton, Brooklyn’s $100 million man, was not going to come off the bench forever. And benching Simmons felt like an inevitable decision for head coach Jordi Fernandez. Even as a reserve, Claxton entered Friday’s game third on the Nets in plus/minus (plus-24 in 157 minutes) and led the team in total rebounds and total blocks. Meanwhile, Simmons was second to last on the team in plus/minus (minus-26 in 146 minutes this season), second in total turnovers (20) and was averaging just 5.8 points per game.

The biggest issue with starting Claxton and Simmons together is spacing. Neither bigs are outside shooting threats, which makes it nearly impossible to play them together. However, they will continue to share the floor in spurts going forward. When that happens, their responsibilities do not change as far as Fernandez is concerned.

“I want to see the same thing that I expect from the rest of that group, ball pressure of physicality, pace in the fullcourt and the half court,” Fernandez said. “And so far, the team has done a great job. So, Ben and they are both good playmakers. They’re real good size to switch pick-and-rolls, to rebound and run. So Nic has done it. Ben has done it. So, exciting, because they like to run as well.”

Measuring stick

Friday and Saturday’s games against the Celtics and Cavaliers — two of the best in the Eastern Conference right now — marked the first matchups in a brutal 11-game stretch for the Nets. Brooklyn will face the Celtics again, the Knicks twice, Phoenix, Golden State, Philadelphia and Sacramento before November is through. By then, fans should have a better understanding of just how good Fernandez’s team can be.

“Everything’s an opportunity to prove something,” Cam Johnson said. “Of course, that’s our goal. We’ll compete, no matter the outcome. We’ll compete and we’ll set out to beat Boston. We’ll set out to beat Cleveland. That’s the bottom line. Those are our expectations. That’s not to say that whatever happens, we’re going to judge it based on successes and failures, based on wins and losses. We’re going to go out and compete and then, figure out how to come back and compete again the next day, and that’s all it’s going to be. But obviously, we go into every game with the mindset of winning and proving that.”

Clowney returns

It was a rough week for Noah Clowney. The second-year forward missed Monday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of left hip soreness, then missed practice later in the week because of an unspecified illness. The 20-year-old’s status was in question entering Friday’s game, but the Nets announced that he would be available ahead of tipoff.

Trendon Watford (hamstring), Day’Ron Sharpe (hamstring) and Bojan Bogdanović (foot) remained out. Simmons (injury management) will not play in Saturday’s game against Cleveland, which will be the second night of a back-to-back for Brooklyn.

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