Nets center Nic Claxton is still on his way back into the team’s starting lineup after starting the regular season with a hamstring injury.
Claxton’s minutes have been monitored throughout the Nets’ first six games of the season, and he has yet to start in any of them.
But before the team’s home game against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, head coach Jordi Fernandez said that how the center responds to the team’s final back-to-back set could dictate when a return to the starting training would take place.
“Yes, there is a plan for it to start at some point,” Fernandez said. “Right now, it’s important for him that he goes through the back-to-back games and feels good, and then from there we’ll revisit the situation and see where we are.”
After Sunday’s game against the Pistons, the Nets host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.
“He didn’t play the last game in a row,” Fernandez said. “Tonight, after the game, we will discuss the plan for tomorrow, and if we can achieve that, we will take the next step. Once again, we have a great group performance-wise and medically, and Nic did a great job. He played a big role in the last win for us.
In the five games he played before Sunday, Claxton averaged 9.8 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 74.2 percent from the field. He still had to play more than 26 minutes this season while being limited. But the head coach expects Claxton to return to his bigger role.
“And to answer your question, it will start at some point, yes,” Fernandez said.
When asked if making back-to-back runs was the final step in Claxton’s progression, Fernandez said, “You said it, yeah.”
“I say, play tonight, talk tonight about how he performed and how he feels,” Fernandez said. “Being able to play tomorrow, we will see and for how many minutes. And then go back to back, how his body feels, and then increase the minutes. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but that’s our thought process.
WHAT HAPPENED TO WATFORD?
Nets forward Trendon Watford (hamstring) was scheduled to make his season debut against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, but he was a late scratch after suffering a setback. Before the win over the Bulls, the YES Network show said the 23-year-old’s hamstring had burst during warmups.
On Sunday, Fernandez said Watford had been following “a certain training programme” and “had a certain awareness that we needed to address”.
“And obviously, if there is awareness of any part of his body, especially if it’s the one that concerns us, then we decided not to dress him and review the whole situation. So everything looks good right now,” said the head coach.
Watford missed Sunday’s game against the Pistons. Fernandez did not provide a return date for Watford before the announcement against the Pistons.
“It’s just part of the process. He’s in a good position, he’s working,” Fernandez said of Watford. “Obviously we want to be careful. As we have always said, health comes first, and we did not want to put [him] at this location. And now we have resolved the situation. …Nothing major. And he’ll be back soon, so I’m not going to tell you exactly when, but we’ll obviously communicate when we go through those stages of preparation. So he’s fine.
SIMMONS MANAGEMENT
Ben Simmons started Sunday, meaning he would miss Monday’s home game against the Grizzlies. The strategy coincides with the team’s plan to not have Simmons play both sides of a back-to-back game following lower back surgery.
“Correct. So it doesn’t change the plan,” Fernandez said. “The plan is he plays one of the two. He plays first, so he doesn’t play the second game.
