The fans on hand kept chanting for Nic Claxton, and when the rookie finally made his debut in the fourth quarter of a 137-89 rout of Brazilian team Sesi Franca Basquete, he made the most of it.
Claxton had 13 points in just 8:52, to the delight of the Barclays Center crowd.
“At the end of the day, whatever level it is, it’s basketball,” said Claxton. “I just wanted to come out there and affect the game in any way that I could, and I think I did a pretty good job of that. Just using the minutes that I had and making something happen. My teammates helped me out a lot, too — just finding me in my spots and everything.”
Claxton hit 5-of-6 from the floor, his only miss coming from 3-point range. But considering he’s likely to play some power forward this season with Kevin Durant hurt and Wilson Chandler suspended, that’s a shot he’s going to have to keep taking.
“That’s probably the biggest thing, just me being able to knock down shots consistently,” Claxton said. “So, me having the confidence and just being able to step up and hit shots.
“I mean, if I’m open, I’m going to shoot. I have a lot of confidence in my shot. It’s something I’ve been working on, I need to continue working on, but if I’m open, especially if I’m feeling it, I’m shooting it every time.”
David Nwaba had 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. But more important he took up the reins from Caris LeVert (three steals) in playing harassing perimeter defense.
“Swiss army knife,” coach Kenny Atkinson summed up. “He’s gonna have to plug holes, play 4, play 3, play 2s, sometimes guard their best player. A great utility guy.”
Joe Harris did not play, a nod to his heavy workload this summer playing for Team USA. But he’s expected to play against the Lakers in China next week.
“I expect him to play in China. He might attack me if I say ‘You’re not playing’ again,” Atkinson said.
The first round in the fight for starting center went to incumbent Jarrett Allen. His competition with DeAndre Jordan promises to be the most heated of the preseason, and he got the call Friday, scoring 12 points and grabbing five boards. Jordan added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
