Brooklyn is now 6-3 in the month of December, drawing an honest response from the Nets big.
Nic Claxton believes the Brooklyn Nets are adjusting to the times in this current NBA climate.
Another words -- his team is trusting their length a lot more.
That trait is propelling the sudden surge in the month of December for Claxton and company. Once a dismal 3-16 overall with theories of a roster blowup imminent, Brooklyn has since exploded in winning six of its last nine. Now they've added the 114-106 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
Claxton has ignited the defensive side. The 6-foot-11 center stars for a defense that allowed only 102.3 points per game in December heading into Tuesday (the best mark among NBA teams). Brooklyn also has allowed the third fewest three-pointers as of late.
As the big explained to the YES Network after beating Philly, it's the Nets adjusting to the current climate that's sparked this new winning roll.
"That's the new NBA -- it's a lot of length, lot of positional basketball and a lot of people doing multiple things out there," Claxton said. "That's a really good group and we have to keep growing as a unit."
Outside of using wingspans to their advantage, Claxton is noticing a change in attitude inside the locker room. More so when teams start to erase a large Nets lead.
"Just not falling into some bad habits we've done in the past when teams got into a run. We executed, got into some good sets and got clean looks. And our defense was solid the whole game," Claxton added. "We just had to be solid and keep our composure through things getting chippy and playing through the physicality. That's what we really harp on."
Claxton hit a double-double with 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds against the Sixers. It's officially the fifth time this month he's hit double digits on the scoring end and cleaning up the glass.
But also sparking this sudden renaissance is the play of Michael Porter Jr. -- another cleaning up the glass but also leading the way in scoring.
"That's what All-Stars do -- they come out and play at a extremely high-level every single night," Claxton said. "They demand double teams and make their teammates better. That's what we expect from him every single night."
Back to the defensive side, Brooklyn grabbed eight total steals with Porter and Noah Clowney grabbing two. Clowney and Terence Mann swatted one block each.
Overall, Brooklyn's length has erased the slow start at the beginning of the year. All by getting with the times.
"Everything is just really coming together for us," Claxton said.