NBA

Why ‘Being Aggressive’ Is Helping Brooklyn’s Nic Claxton Have A Career-Best Season So Far

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By
Zach Wolpin
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Zach Wolpin Sports Editor

Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.

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Sports Editor

Updated26 Jan 2023

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The Brooklyn Nets once again had to play without Kevin Durant last night as he heals from an MCL injury. It was going to be a tough matchup for the Nets, but they’ve shown they can win without some of their best players at times. Having a dominant stretch over his past few games and for the 2022-23 season is Nic Claxton. He’s having a career-best year all around the board for the Nets and explained why “being aggressive” has helped him have success. 

In Brooklyn’s 137-133 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last night, Claxton showed out and had another solid performance. This was his fourth game in a row scoring over 20 points an back-to-back games with 24 or more. He’s also had a double-double in five of his last six games.

New York Sports Betting sites have the Nets at (+800) to win the Finals this season.

Nic Claxton has taken the leap this season into becoming a key piece for the Nets

As of today, the 23 year old big man is leading the league in blocks per game, field-goal percentage, and effective field-goal percentage. On top of that, he’s having a career-best in points (12.9), rebounds (8.7), assists (1.5), and blocks (2.7) per game.

Claxton knows his role and he does it well for the Nets. He is not like the modern day big who can stretch the floor and make three’s. He gets his work done in the post with big-time dunks and a creative layup package.

His matchup for most of the game last night was Joel Embiid who he held his own against. Embiid has a 65-pound weight difference vs Claxton, but you would not know if based on how well he played vs Philly’s big. At one point in the game, Embiid got in he face of Claxton and tried to rattle him up. It didn’t work and Claxton was able to remain calm and continued to play effective.

After the game, he had this to say on what’s been going well for him as he’s taken on an increased role scoring while Kevin Durant is out.

“I’m just being more aggressive, being more assertive out there. We’re missing a lot of scoring. So, somebody has to step up. So I’m just picking my spots and doing what I do.” – Nic Claxton