When it comes to facing the Boston Celtics on Saturday, big man Nic Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets is trending in the wrong direction.
When the Brooklyn Nets play the Boston Celtics on Saturday, center Nic Claxton is on the verge of missing his fifth straight game.
I can tell you with certainty that Nic has not taken part in shootaround. Thus, if that guides you in any way to determine whether Nic will be available tomorrow, the answer is probably not, head coach Jacque Vaughn said on Friday to Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
After sustaining an ankle injury during Brooklyn’s season-opening loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Claxton has missed the last three games for the team and will not play on Friday in Chicago. Vaughn has described the injury’s severity as “day-to-day,” referring to the breakout center.
Claxton is expected to anchor a Nets defense that many projected to be one of the best units in the league this season. The 24-year-old led the league in stocks (steals + blocks) with 254 in 2022-23, tying Jaren Jackson Jr., and finished 10th in the Defensive Player of the Year voting. Without him, Brooklyn has turned to a small-ball lineup with Ben Simmons and Dorian Finney-Smith in the frontcourt.
With Simmons driving the pace and dishing out passes to shooters, the Nets have found success with a five-out lineup; however, after four games, they rank 23rd in defensive rating, giving up 116.3 points per contest. But Brooklyn, led by Simmons and Finney-Smith, has improved significantly at grabbing rebounds; after finishing 28th the previous season, Brooklyn now has the fifth-best defensive rebounding percentage in the league.
The Nets’ small-ball lineup will put Kristaps Porzingis of Boston and Nikola Vucevic of Chicago to the test on Friday and Saturday. Nic Claxton’s next chance to make a comeback will occur on Monday when Brooklyn hosts the Milwaukee Bucks.
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