Nets' Nic Claxton to See More Minutes Against Bucks

Claxton will see the floor more in Brooklyn's home opener against Milwaukee.

Feb 28, 2023; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) knocks the ball away from Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton started the regular season on a minutes restriction. The 25-year-old suffered hamstring issues before the preseason, and as a result, has played just 35 minutes across two games.

It looks like Claxton will see the floor more tonight in Brooklyn's home opener against the Milwaukee Bucks. According to a report from CBS Sports and Evan Barnes of Newsday Sports, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said Claxton will see more time in Sunday night's game.

Claxton started the season coming off the bench, and while it's unclear when he'll return to the starting lineup, this is a good sign for the future. Claxton signed a four-year, $97 million contract this offseason, and has remained a career Net thus far.

Brooklyn's 0-2 was expected, especially in the absence of Claxton. The team has gone with a starting lineup of Dennis Schroder, Cam Thomas, Ben Simmons, Cameron Johnson, and Dorian Finney-Smith. Finney-Smith has been the starting center, however, Brooklyn has generally played positionless basketball due to Claxton's minutes restriction.

With limited minutes comes a limited impact. Claxton has averaged 5.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game to start the season, but his defensive efforts haven't gone unnoticed, putting up two blocks and two steals in total.

It's also important to note that Claxton suffered an ejection in the season opener against the Atlanta Hawks after committing a Flagrant 2 foul on Dyson Daniels. He played just 15 minutes that game, getting ejected in the fourth quarter.

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