Nic Claxton had a year-long streak back on the court, full of disappointments and setbacks. But now that the big young man is back, he is already surpassing what the Nets could have expected.
“I think that is fair. He just went through a rough patch with shoulder to knee injuries and all. You never want to have very high expectations, ”said Steve Nash after the 129-92 rout at Magic on Thursday. “But it is proof of the technical committee that worked with him every day and his diligence in his work. He worked hard to put himself in this position and was very productive.
“Nic’s energy was excellent. He hasn’t played in about a year, so to play those last two games and for him to be as disturbing as he was – I think he had four steals and two blocks, [he] assists, he hits. He is someone we believe in and we think he has many advantages, keep growing and follow step by step. But I was impressed and very happy that he was successful out there. “
Tuesday marked Claxton’s first game since February 28, 2020. He had to recover after a hamstring strain in December 2019, a shoulder surgery in June 2020 and finally a knee tendinopathy right. But he followed his season debut against the Kings with 10 points, four steals, three rebounds and a 15-minute high-energy block on Thursday.
Claxton said that playing with James Harden and Kyrie Irving made life easier.
“You have to respect them out there, so it opens the floor. I didn’t show half of what I have in my bag, ”said Claxton. “But it just makes it easier for someone like me. It creates a lot of space and is one by one, and it will be fun. “
Claxton caught a technical foul by hanging from the hoop after a dunk, but said that Irving and Harden had already promised to pay the bill. Irving gave Claxton “The Alchemist” to read and, apparently, is now Claxton’s nickname.
Landry Shamet scored 19 points in another resurgent game.
After hitting just 25% in the 3-point range in December, it hit 32.7% last month and reached 41.7% this month.
“Are you saying that he will have more than 50 percent in March? I like where you want to go with this, ”said Nash. “Landry is a very good sniper. We all know that. It’s just a new situation, a new environment, a new function trying to turn this corner and I think he started to have that confidence in what we are doing and that is great. “
Tyler Cook made his Nets debut.
Nets have a lot of flexibility. Nash said they could bring back the recently resigned Andre Roberson or Iman Shumpert in 10-day deals and also watch the takeover market.
“It is possible that they are back; this is a front office issue, ”said Nash. “In the procurement market, this is one of the reasons why we want to be flexible in my eyes, to see how we can improve our team. I don’t think it’s any different. … Especially for us, with the way the list changed after the big deal, we have to be flexible to keep our options open. “