Nic Claxton's defensive dominance propels him past a franchise legend. Now fourth all-time, he's impacting games and rewriting Brooklyn Nets history.
Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton played a big defensive role in their 23-point comeback Saturday against the Detroit Pistons, notching three blocks and one steal to help the Nets steal a 107-105 win.
This comeback marked the fourth-largest in franchise history, but Claxton achieved a personal milestone as well. With Claxton's trifecta of blocks, he moved into fourth place on the Nets' all-time career blocks list, passing Mike Gminski (1980-1988).
Claxton now sits at 602 career blocks through his seven seasons, averaging 1.6 rejections per contest.
His final block of the win came early in the fourth quarter when he swatted away a layup from Pistons guard Javonte Green. Brooklyn went on to outscore the Pistons 34-21 in the fourth, ending a 10-game losing streak.
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was blunt after the game, telling media his team "stopped respecting the game." Perhaps his squad should begin showing more respect to Claxton, who averages two blocks and nearly one steal in 18 matchups against Detroit.
At his current pace, Claxton will be close to catching former Nets' All-Star Brook Lopez by 2027-2028, when his current contract, a four-year, $97 million extension, runs out. Lopez sits atop the list with 972 rejections.
Claxton is having an efficient season, averaging 7.1 rebounds and 12.3 points per game at a 57.7-percent clip. He is also a much-improved playmaker, averaging 3.9 assists -- nearly two times his career-best mark of 2.2.
He flashed this playmaking during an NBA Cup matchup with the Boston Celtics in November, recording his first career triple-double (18 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds).
Following the game, Claxton expressed how special it felt to stuff the stat sheet in a big-time win.
“It felt amazing, so good. It was a good team win and everybody contributed. First triple-double in Boston,” Claxton said.
After Claxton played for two seasons at Georgia, the Nets selected him at No. 31, the first selection in the second round of the 2019 draft.
Claxton's big jump in the NBA happened in 2022-2023, his fourth season, when he started all 76 games he appeared in and averaged over two blocks per game while finishing in the top 10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Claxton's continued growth is a promising sign for a Nets group looking for positives in a difficult season.
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