Nic Claxton delivers season-best performance vs. Bucks in encouraging sign for Nets: 'I'm feeling better'

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Dec 8, 2024

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NEW YORK — This season has come with its share of challenges for Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton.

He suffered a hamstring injury before the start of the preseason, causing him to begin the regular season on a minutes restriction.

A nagging lower-back injury then required an epidural injection in mid-November. Claxon missed three consecutive games after the injection, then sat out two more toward the end of the month, again due to his back.

Claxton said last month that the back issue began in the summer and was something he expected he would need to continue to manage.

He entered Sunday averaging 9.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 24.8 minutes per game this season — his lowest marks in each category in three years.

But in Sunday’s 118-113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Barclays Center, Claxton looked the part of the game-disrupting center that the Nets signed to a four-year, $100 million extension during the offseason to be a foundational piece in their rebuild.

He scored a season-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, adding 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and three steals in a season-high 33 minutes.

“I’m just getting my flow back,” Claxton, 25, said afterward. “Just playing more games, my body, everything’s starting to come together. I need to be aggressive for us, especially right now with Cam [Thomas] being out, missing some scoring.”

Claxton’s uptick in aggressiveness came against one of the NBA’s most physically imposing frontcourts, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, and fellow 7-footer Brook Lopez, who was the runner-up for the award in 2023.

The 6-11 Claxton got off to a fast start, driving past Lopez from the top of the key for a two-handed dunk in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, he stayed in front of a driving Antetokounmpo and delivered an emphatic block off of the backboard.

And in the third quarter, Claxton collected a pass from Dennis Schröder on a pick-and-roll and used a spin move before banking in a lay-up over Lopez. Later in the period, he tipped his own miss back to himself for another lay-in, this time past Bobby Portis.

“All it takes is a good three weeks and he’s right back to his numbers,” Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith said of Claxton.

“He’s been hurt all summer. He’s been in and out of the lineup, so it’s hard to get your rhythm, especially playing as a big nowadays. It ain’t like they’re throwing you the ball 15 times and telling you to go get a bucket. He’s gotta work for his points.”

Claxton, a six-year NBA veteran, appeared in at least 71 games in each of the last two seasons, averaging at least 11.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 29.8 minutes per game in both.

Sunday marked the first time since Nov. 11 that Claxton played at least 30 minutes. He had not scored more than 16 points in any of his 17 games this season before Sunday’s.

But Claxton’s numbers have been improving. He’s now scored in double-figures in three straight games. He had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and eight rebounds in the Nets’ previous game, a 99-90 win over the Indiana Pacers.

“I’m feeling better mentally, physically, and everything’s just coming together,” Claxton said. “Just knowing that my back’s OK, so I’m trusting my body, I’m putting the work in, and I’m getting back into the flow of things.”

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