{"id":189432,"date":"2021-02-26T08:35:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T05:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nic-claxton-already-surpassing-nets-expectations\/"},"modified":"2021-02-26T08:35:42","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T05:35:42","slug":"nic-claxton-already-surpassing-nets-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nic-claxton-already-surpassing-nets-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"#Nic Claxton already surpassing Nets’ expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Nic Claxton already surpassing Nets’ expectations<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Nic Claxton had an arduous, yearlong road back to the court, one rife with disapp<\/a>ointments and setbacks. But now that the young big man is back, he\u2019s already surpassing what the Nets could\u2019ve hoped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s fair. He\u2019s just had a rough go of it with injuries from the shoulder to the knee and everything. You never want to have too high expectations,\u201d Steve Nash said after Thursday\u2019s 129-92 rout of the Magic. \u201cBut it\u2019s a testament to the coaching staff that worked with him every day and to his diligence with his work. He\u2019s worked his butt off to put himself in this position and he was very productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cNic\u2019s energy was outstanding. Hasn\u2019t played for about a year, so to play these last two game<\/a>s and for him to be as disruptive as he was \u2014 I think he had four steals and two blocks, [he] assists, he rebounds. He\u2019s somebody we believe in and think he\u2019s got a lot of upside, continue to grow and just take it step-by-step. But I was impressed and really happy that he had success out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nic
Nic Claxton dunks the ball against the Kings.<\/figcaption>
Robert Sabo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tuesday marked Claxton\u2019s first game since Feb. 28, 2020. He had to battle back after a hamstring strain in December 2019, shoulder surgery in June 2020 and finally right knee tendinopathy. But he followed his season debut against the Kings, with 10 points, a career-high four steals, three rebounds and a block in 15 high-energy minutes Thursday.<\/p>\n

Claxton said playing with James Harden and Kyrie Irving has made life simpler.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to respect them out there, so it opens up the floor. I haven\u2019t shown half of what I have in my bag,\u201d Claxton said. \u201cBut it just makes it easy for somebody like me. It creates a lot of space and it\u2019s one-on-one, and it\u2019s gonna be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claxton picked up a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a dunk, but said that Irving and Harden already promised to pick up the tab. Irving gave Claxton \u201cThe Alchemist\u201d to read, and apparently it\u2019s now Claxton\u2019s nickname.<\/p>\n

Landry Shamet had 19 points in another resurgent game.<\/p>\n

After shooting just 25 percent from 3-point range in December, he hit 32.7 percent last month and has reached 41.7 percent so far this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re saying he\u2019ll be over 50 percent in March? I like where you\u2019re going with this,\u201d Nash said. \u201cLandry\u2019s a really good shooter. We all know that. It\u2019s just a new situation, new environment, new role trying to turn that corner and I think he\u2019s started to have that confidence in what we\u2019re doing and it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Cook made his Nets debut.<\/p>\n
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