NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets (25-52) were coming off an exciting weekend for the team as they achieved a two-game winning streak after beating the Washington Wizards and Dallas Mavericks. However, Brooklyn began their four-game homestand Thursday with a matchup against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves (45-32) and the game went about as expected.
The Nets lost to the Timberwolves 105-90 as Brooklyn wasn't able to close the gap between them and Minnesota following a decisive second quarter. Nic Claxton continued his impressive play towards the end of the season with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists against Rudy Gobert and company while Dariq Whitehead had 17 points and three rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.
Despite having a scary moment after landing on the foot of Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez, Edwards led the Timberwolves with 28 points and five rebounds while shooting 10-of-15 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point land. Here are three Nets takeaways from Thursday's loss to the Timberwolves:
Nic Claxton
The Brooklyn Nets are winding down the season and along the way, they are looking to see what young players emerge over the final two weeks of the campaign. Nic Claxton is one of the players that have not taken a step back as he is playing some of his best basketball of the season and this contest was an example of who he can be when he is fully-engaged within a game.
Despite going against one of the best defensive centers in the NBA in recent memory, Claxton put up 18 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals while shooting 9-of-10 from the field in just 24 minutes. Claxton had several moments in this game that exemplified how valuable he is to have on the floor and how there is still room for him to grow in terms of consistency.
Here's what head coach Jordi Fernandez had to say about Claxton's ...
