NEW YORK — Nic Claxton has been one of the steadying presences for the Brooklyn Nets this season, even as the team has experienced a few losing streaks. The Nets have hit arguably their roughest patch of the season recently so getting out of that has been one of the team’s main goals.
“It was extremely important, man,” Claxton said after putting up 23 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists in Friday’s 124-115 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, a victory that ended Brooklyn’s five-game losing streak that included a loss at the Thunder on New Year’s Eve. Coming into Friday, the Nets had lost 10 of their last 12 games in a rut that saw them plummet to ninth in the Eastern Conference standings.
“Losing those five in a row, we just needed to get that losing taste out of our mouth,” Claxton explained. “We responded. We responded tonight (Friday), our fans were with us, and we had a good performance.” Brooklyn won the first half 75-47 thanks to their incredible shooting from the field (55.3%) and from three-point land (47.6%) while holding Oklahoma City to just 13.3% from deep.
The second half was a different story as the Thunder won the final 24 minutes 68-49 thanks to a reversal of roles so to speak. Thankfully, Claxton and the Nets had enough of a cushion to steal the win and end their losing streak in front of their home crowd.
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