Nets ‘coming for everybody’ as they look to make another statement

CLEVELAND — Even by means of the Nets’ league-best eight-game successful streak, folks nonetheless questioned the value of these wins, the standard of the groups Brooklyn was beating. 

Till Friday’s complete mauling of Milwaukee. And after taking Christmas off, the Nets’ confidence is sky-high heading into Monday’s conflict with fellow-contender Cleveland. 

“We’re coming for everyone, man,” Nic Claxton mentioned throughout his on-court interview after the Bucks win. “We’ve had quite a lot of disappointment over this season, these previous few seasons. However issues are rolling. We’ve simply bought to maintain it going.” 

The Nets knocked the 2021 champions off their perch atop the Japanese Convention. Now they’ll tackle the Cavaliers, who’ve the very best level differential within the league. 

“It’s an enormous win for us,” Ben Simmons mentioned of beating Milwaukee. “Subsequent sport is Cleveland, so [we have to keep it].” 

After passing their check towards Giannis Antetokounmpo, now Claxton (and to a lesser extent Simmons) should take care of All-Star middle Jarrett Allen. 

Claxton is the successor to and alternative for Allen. Brooklyn traded Allen partly as a result of it couldn’t pay him, and in addition as a result of the Nets wanted a first-round decide to get James Harden and couldn’t flip Landry Shamet for one. However most of all, that they had religion in Claxton to develop into what he’s blossoming into. 

Royce O’Neale is getting again to his former kind, after being overworked early and lacking a few video games as a consequence of private causes. He’d been second within the league in minutes logged to solely teammate Kevin Durant earlier than being sidelined. 

The veteran wing has gotten progressively higher in his 4 video games again, making a scoreless return on Dec. 16 in Toronto, however scoring 11, 14 after which 17 factors on Friday. He must be energized coming into Cleveland. 

“Yeah, I ought to proceed to apologize to him, taking him out to dinner,” Jacque Vaughn mentioned. “That was on me, enjoying him too many minutes, nevertheless it was as a result of I like what he does. And he ended up having missed two video games. 

“He missed the Indiana sport, missed the Washington sport, then he needed to three days additionally. And I believed that basically get him able the place mentally and bodily he was in a position to reload. Now you see the worth that he brings to us on each ends of the ground. So I take the blame for operating him into the bottom for these first couple of weeks, for certain.” 

Wing Joe Harris missed Friday with a sore left knee and he’ll sit towards the Cavaliers on Monday. David Duke Jr., Kessler Edwards, Day’Ron Sharpe and Alondes Williams will even not play. 

Kevin Durant is sixteenth on the NBA’s all-time profession scoring checklist with 26,484 factors, having just lately handed Corridor of Famers John Havlicek and Paul Pierce. Subsequent up is Fifteenth-place Spurs Corridor of Famer Tim Duncan, a dozen factors away with 26,496.