As Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline approaches, the Nets continue to talk about how much they need Nic Claxton.
The center played 35 minutes in Tuesday’s 119-107 loss to the Mavericks, one night after playing 32 games.
To make Tuesday even more difficult, he had to play against Luka Doncic and former teammate Kyrie Irving.
Claxton struggled, scoring nine points, grabbing 11 rebounds and recording five blocks, including two from Doncic and one from Irving.
“I thought Nick’s ability against Doncic when we switched and guarded him and actually got the stops was impressive. Nick plays unbelievable basketball, and I think he’s probably the best player I’ve ever been.” We’re playing our best basketball since I’ve been around him,” head coach Jacques Vaughn said after the Nets suffered their third loss in their last five games.
“The way he speaks, commands the defense, his ability to guard on the perimeter and get back to rebounds is at a high level, and he’s made it his own. I give him a lot of credit for showing up for those minutes.”
Claxton has never admitted that the additional workload bothers him and has previously stated that it is a good challenge for him.
Although he is limited in minutes, with Ben Simmons playing, Claxton typically doesn’t share minutes with him too often to free up size.
Additionally, the Nets will be without four tall rotation players: Cam Johnson, Lonnie Walker IV, Dorian Finney-Smith and Dayron Sharpe.
The past two games may have shown what Bourne calls “frustration” on Claxton, who committed flagrant fouls in quick succession.
On Monday against the Warriors, Claxton was ejected in the fourth quarter for a Type 2 aggravated foul for chasing Brandin Podzemski while collecting an offensive rebound.
On Tuesday night, he was judged red-handed against Doncic in the third quarter.
“He needs his teammates to protect his back when he’s guarding a player or blocking a shot,” Vaughn said Monday.
The coach reiterated that Claxton communicated with his teammates, including after a timeout early in the third quarter that sparked more offense.
“We made a couple of mistakes defensively and we should have adjusted and kept pace,” Vaughn said. “We were more organized after that timeout. Again, this is another example of Nick stepping up in a timeout,” he praised.
“Being able to speak up and keep the group locked in…he was unbelievably great for us. He talked to us during that timeout about what we should do, and I As we talked things through, it definitely clicked for us.”
Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain) missed the reunion with Dallas, where he played seven seasons before coming to Brooklyn in the Kyrie Irving trade.
“I think overall he’s just disappointed that he couldn’t play for us,” Finney-Smith Vaughn said before the game. “And he’s one of our players who isn’t one of those players who likes to get hurt, he really enjoys playing and competing, and unfortunately he wasn’t able to do that. We’re going to miss him.”
