SAN FRANCISCO — The Hack-A-Clax is in full effect. And fresh off the very best game of his profession, Nic Claxton said if opponents need to keep fouling him, he’ll take it.
“I definitely take it as a challenge,” said Claxton following the Nets’ 120-116 win at Golden State. “I don’t care. If team’s are fouling me it’s almost an indication of respect. They’ll’t stop us, our team defensively and I just got to go up and knock the shots down. I’m going to tackle that challenge each time.
“It truthfully gets me going, gets me activated because after I start getting fouled I need to return to the road. If that’s what teams need to do then I’m going tackle that challenge. And yeah I’ll be ready.”
Claxton went just 6 of 15 from the free throw line on Sunday, entering play a 47.1 percent free throw shooter this season. He went 1 of 6 during a 15-3 Warriors run within the third quarter, repeatedly sent to the stripe.
![Nic Claxton](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/01/GettyImages-1246382170.jpg?w=1024)
“Yeah, that’s mental a part of it, that mental and physical,” said Jacque Vaughn, who left Claxton in. “That is great for Nic, because he’s gonna be counted on and when the playoffs come around. And if a team wants to make use of that strategy, he’ll proceed to realize confidence in attending to the road and shooting. So we kept him on the market. He’ll proceed to be on the market if a team desires to take that strategy.”
No matter how for much longer Kevin Durant is out, the Nets are going to be playing Kyrie Irving in pick-and-rolls and Ben Simmons off the ball. Which means Simmons has quite a lot of work to do on his screening.
“With the [past] five quarters you saw us have shooters on the ground and the basketball in [Irving’s] hands, [Simmons] setting screens, rolling, putting pressure on the defense,” Vaughn said before Sunday’s win. “Now we’ve got to have the opportunity to learn play with each [Simmons] and [Claxton] in the sport. Just from a rebounding, from a size-wise [perspective]. It puts pressure on us if those two aren’t in the sport.
“So we’ve got to determine play whether that’s [Simmons] is in pick-and-roll and he’s a screener — which we have now to get him higher at — because he does have the flexibility to roll and still have the opportunity to search out [Claxton] on the rim or find shooters. Due to his size, we’ve got to have the opportunity to do each: Have him on the ground with [Claxton], have the opportunity to play within the pocket as a screener after which still have the basketball in [Irving’s] hands.”
With Simmons — who had seven points and 11 assists on Sunday against Golden State — largely playing on the ball, the Nets managed just 23 3-point attempts in a loss at San Antonio on Tuesday and 26 on Thursday in Phoenix. For a team with Joe Harris, Seth Curry and Yuta Watanabe, that’s not enough.
Putting Irving at the purpose and Simmons as a screening forward opened the offense up within the fourth quarter against the Suns, and in a win over Utah on Friday. The outcomes were immediate, going 18 of 41 from deep.
“The primary piece is the quantity of 3s that we shot versus Utah, which is a fairly good number,” Vaughn said. “It gives us the flexibility just points-per-shot to at the tip of the day [to maximize] the worth of that shot. We will get it in transition, means the defense isn’t set. It also creates the flexibility for us to get downhill and get into the paint … and we are able to do it early within the clock. That piece of it really works to our advantage.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr noted as much pregame.
“They’re probably the very best 3-point shooting team within the league,” Kerr said. “They’ve so many alternative guys who can shoot if you may have a breakdown they usually move the ball, they’re going to be open and also you’re really vulnerable.”
Sunday was the primary time Curry faced his brother Stephen Curry since joining the Nets.
Durant still hasn’t played in front of fans at Chase Center since leaving the Warriors for Brooklyn in 2019.