The Nets have achieved three consecutive wins with Michael Porter Jr. in the starting lineup.
It’s interesting to consider when the real turning point will come.
The most recent victory was a 119-101 triumph over the struggling Pelicans, with an attendance of 17,055 at Barclays Center.
New Orleans, despite their struggles, still somehow manages to outperform Brooklyn. The Nets are now sitting at 6-17, yet they look somewhat better with Porter on board.
In an effort to manage his hip injury, the team opted to rest Porter in Thursday’s game, which was against another low-ranked team. Unfortunately, Brooklyn’s offense struggled during the fourth quarter.
This strategy might have been a way to improve their odds in the lottery.
Still, we can see how much of an impact Porter has.
His performance in Saturday’s game against the Pelicans showcased that nicely.
Porter led all scorers with an impressive 35 points, hitting 14 of his 23 attempts and going 5-for-10 from beyond the arc.
It’s notable that this marks his longest streak of scoring 30 or more points in consecutive games.
It’s probably not just a coincidence that the Nets have won every one of those games, going 6-7 since Cam Thomas got injured.
Data from Cleaning The Glass indicates that Porter ranks in the 79th percentile for his on-off impact, which is quite good.
The boost is even more significant on the offensive side, where he lands in the 91st percentile.
His developing chemistry with Nick Claxton has turned the center into a solid offensive presence, effectively dismantling opposing defenses with their plays.
Claxton recorded a career-high 10 assists, along with 14 points and 10 rebounds, achieving his second triple-double. He dominated rookie D’Eriq Queen of the Pelicans while also giving up next year’s lottery pick.
The Nets shot 52.8% overall, hitting 14 of their 35 three-point attempts.
Meanwhile, rookie Egor Demin, drafted seventh overall, contributed with 8 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds but struggled with his shooting, finishing at 4-of-16 and a minus-22 rating.
Trey Murphy led the Pelicans with 23 points, but the team now holds a dismal record of 3 wins and 21 losses.
Initially, the Nets led by just a point at 14-13, but they quickly built a lead with a 16-4 run, increasing it to 30-17 thanks to a nice assist from rookie Danny Wolf to Dayron Sharpe.
After that, the Pelicans never got close.
Despite a brief surge that brought New Orleans within 51-42, the Nets responded with a 13-2 run to seal their victory.
Terrence Mann capped off that run, pushing the score to 64-44.
Porter added a layup off Ziare Williams to make it 92-64 with three minutes remaining, essentially putting the game out of reach.
The fourth quarter was a formality at that point.
With this performance, Claxton has become the first Nets player to record multiple triple-doubles in a single season since James Harden and Kevin Durant did so during the 2021-22 season, which likely feels like ages ago to Brooklyn fans.
He now joins Shawn Bradley as the only centers in franchise history to have multiple career triple-doubles, with Bradley having recorded five between 1995 and 1997.
