To a man, the Nets say Nic Claxton has been their best defender — and one they can’t replace or do without. 

The Nets will ride a season-high six-game winning streak into Wednesday’s tilt versus defending champion Golden State. A surprisingly stout defense has been the key, and Claxton is the one player they can’t replicate on that end of the court. 

“Yeah, what he brings is unique. It’s rare to have a center who can guard perimeter players, guard point guards and block shots at the rim, and get out there and run the floor. He can play different ways on both ends of the floor. He’s young, he’s energetic; he’s irreplaceable for what we are trying to do,” Kevin Durant said. 

“He guards multiple positions for us … coming over to the weakside, blocking shots, putting pressure on the rim, rebounding,” Jacque Vaughn said. “The games he doesn’t play, we miss him; it puts an extreme amount of pressure on other guys — there’s not another guy on our team that can do the things Nic does.” 

That includes being the defensive anchor, protecting the rim, and switching to guard 1-through-5. 

Brooklyn’s net rating of plus-5.8 with Claxton on the court falls to minus-2.0 with him off. That plus-7.8 gap is by far the best of any Nets rotation player. 

“Clax is huge for us. When he’s down there we can be aggressive on the ball. Overall he’s our best defender,” Edmond Sumner gushed after Claxton’s game-clinching block of Bojan Bogdanovic sealed Sunday’s win in Detroit. 

“It means a lot coming from the leaders of the team, coaches,” Claxton said. “That’s just what I do. That block, it felt really good getting that block. He had a pretty clean look. And to get a hand on it, it felt really good.” 

Claxton came into Monday second in the league in blocks (66), blocks per game (2.4) and block percentage (7.4). 

Finally healthy and the undisputed starting center, Claxton has made NBA All-Defense — or even Defensive Player of the Year — a goal of his. And sitting in the top 15 in both defensive rating and defensive win shares, it might reachable. 

“Yeah, for sure. That’s always been a goal of mine,” Claxton told The Post. “I take a lot of pride in defense. My numbers will speak for itself; the eye test, everything, it’ll be there, so I just continue to stay solid. That’s definitely one of my goals. 

“As time goes on, it’ll show. I’m just going to continue to do what I do on a night-to-night basis, and at the end of the day all of that stuff will take care of itself. Defense is a skill, and that’s something I’m really elite at. So it’ll all show.” 

That consistency is the last step for Claxton. After a career-high six blocks Friday in Toronto, quick foul trouble put him on the back foot Sunday as the Nets fell behind by 19. But once he stopped overthinking and just started playing, he ended up with three blocks, including the clincher. 

“In the second half that was just hooping,” Claxton said. 

“Hopefully it continues to go in that direction,” Vaughn said. “Great challenge for him.” 

Nets GM Sean Marks’ two-year, $20 million investment this summer already looks shrewd. A solid rim runner and lob threat, Claxton has shown he can coexist with Ben Simmons well enough to be leading the league in field-goal percentage. But his ability to switch on defense and protect the rim is unique. 

In Toronto, he pressured a guard out at the arc and came back to get a block at the rim. And against Washington, Kyrie Irving laughed at the recollection of Claxton telling him to let Corey Kispert drive late in the game so he could reject him. 

“Yeah, when Nic’s telling me get out of the way so he can get blocks, I know we’re in for a good active night,” Irving said. “When he’s blocking shots it makes our defense a lot more dangerous.”