NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton has been one of the main focal points of the team’s rotation over the past few seasons so it was a shock to see him come off the bench the other night. Granted, Claxton came off the bench for Wednesday’s 104-103 overtime loss to the Orlando Magic due to a minutes restriction, but he’s back in the starting lineup moving forward.
“Yeah, he did great. He’ll start tonight, giving you guys the secret here, but obviously Nic has been amazing. Him and Day’Ron together, they’ve done a great job,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said prior to Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Fernandez was asked how the team felt about Claxton’s time on the floor on Wednesday and it seems like the team is comfortable with him assuming his usual role as the starting center.
“Day’Ron really took advantage of his minutes, but I’m going to start Nic,” Fernandez continued. While Claxton will be starting Claxton, putting Day’Ron Sharpe back on the bench, Fernandez made sure to point out the fact that Sharpe has exceeded expectations during his time as the starting center. Sharpe was able to get three straight games as the starter, two of which occurred with Claxton out of the rotation completely due to personal reasons.
“I’ve learned that, like, his hard work that he put in through the summer, it’s showing right now,” Fernandez said of Sharpe on Friday. “I’ve learned that he’s a resilient person and player, because even though last game for instance at times he was not perfect, he made winning play after winning play… I think those things are very important because winning plays are important.”
Regardless of who is starting at the center position and who is the backup, Claxton and Sharpe will have a tough test ahead of them on Friday going against Clippers centers Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez. Zubac is having one of the best seasons of his career to the tune of 15.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 60.9% from the field while Lopez, formerly of the Nets, is shooting 35.4% from behind the three-point line on 4.5 attempts per game.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Nic Claxton in starting lineup Friday vs. James Harden, Clippers