Brooklyn Nets: Noah Clowney Scores Season-High 20 Points, Impresses Jordi Fernández

The Nets forward dropped a season-high 20 points in Brooklyn’s win against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Dec 26, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney (21) shoots under pressure from Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton (22) during the third quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets picked up a surprise win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, in part due to Noah Clowney’s season-high 20 points. Nets head coach Jordi Fernández was effusive in his praise for the second-year forward after the game.

“He’s an example,” Fernández said. “That’s the culture we want to establish. Work, get one percent better, care about your teammates, connect with them, do what’s best for the team, and we’ll be in a good place.”

Clowney's 20 points came with six threes, including a shot clock-beating prayer that gave the Nets a three-point lead with 2:25 left in the ball game. His best performance of the season followed his previous best game of the year three days earlier against the Miami Heat. Then, Clowney scored 19 points on four made threes.

“He deserves those moments,” Cam Johnson said. “He works so hard, keeps his head down and works. Good kid, good teammate. His future is so bright he don’t [sic] even really know it yet, I don’t think.”

NOAH CLOWNEY ARE YOU SERIOUS pic.twitter.com/RQ6BghbNyC

— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) December 27, 2024

Clowney has now scored in double-digits in five of his last six games. He's averaging 12.3 points, five rebounds, one assist and 0.5 blocks on 40% shooting from three during that stretch. The former Alabama prospect’s playing time has also increased, having started the last three games and averaging a little under 30 minutes per contest in that span.

“[He’s] trying to do the right things,” Fernández said. “He’s playing the perimeter spot, 1-4. He’s playing the 5. He’s letting it fly. Also defensively, he’s finding the way to be physical … without fouling. There’s things that he can clean up. It’s a process. You have to go through it.”

Johnson added: “He played 30 minutes today. He’s out there and he’s figured it out. He’s so young. He got time, but we need him to step up now, and that’s what he’s been doing. He kinda adds a good dimension [in] that he can shoot the ball, space the floor and defend at the rim and move his feet at the perimeter.”

Recently, Clowney revealed to The New York Post that his “main goal” right now “has been to be better energy-wise” for the Nets.

“I feel like — I was told — [there’s] no neutral energy. It’s either bad or good. So try to give good energy. So that’s been my main goal, as far as how I play. [You] make shots sometimes, you don’t make shots sometimes. Do what you can on the defensive end. Just try to control what you can,” he told The Post’s Brian Lewis.

Clowney’s comments matched what Fernández and Johnson added post-game following the Milwaukee win. Both commended Clowney’s mentality and confidence, with Johnson adding that the 20-year-old’s “in-game maturity is coming a long way.”

“I just want him to mentally, to control the ups-and-downs,” Fernández also said. “We believe in him and we believe in all of these guys that if they put their work in, if they try to do the right things, for the most part, it’ll always work out.”

The Nets play the second leg of a back-to-back, against the San Antonio Spurs, on Friday night. Last season as a rookie, Clowney only appeared in one of the Nets' games against San Antonio, scoring three points in 3:40 minutes of play.

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