Last night against the Celtics, Nets center Nic Claxton notched his first career triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high 12 assists.
Per Nets PR, it was the first triple-double recorded by a Net since Ben Simmons did so during the 2022-23 season.
— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) November 22, 2025
The Brooklyn Nets (3-12) had something to play for coming into Friday’s game at the Boston Celtics (8-8) outside of just a normal regular-season game in November. Brooklyn went into Boston knowing that they had to win if they were going to stay alive in the NBA Cup and the Nets made sure to not have a repeat of what happened in the fourth quarter in Tuesday’s loss.
The Nets beat the Celtics 113-105 in Friday’s NBA Cup game and while the first three quarters look eerily similar to Tuesday, Brooklyn made sure that the end of the game was a different story. Forward Michael Porter Jr. stepped up for the Nets to the tune of 33 points, eight rebounds, and two assists while center Nic Claxton notched his first career triple-double of 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.
Brooklyn caught a big break in this game when Celtics guard Jaylen Brown picked up his fifth foul in the third quarter and had to sit down until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter due to his foul trouble. Porter made sure that he did what he could to close the game for Brooklyn so here are three Nets takeaways from Friday’s NBA Cup win over the Celtics:
Michael Porter Jr. Is On A Tear
When the Nets acquired Porter from the Denver Nuggets, along with a first-round pick, in exchange for forward Cam Johnson, some Nets fans were wondering what the organization was thinking with such a move. However, Porter has not only done what he did in Denver for six seasons, but he is having a career-year by leaps and bounds as he’s now averaging 24.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 48.6% from the field and 37.5% from three-point land.
Nic Claxton Notches First Career Triple-Double
Similar to Porter, Claxton has been having a career-year, but when it comes to the former Georgia Bulldog, it seems like he is making up for the past couple of seasons when he was playing solid basketball, but could have been playing great basketball. Claxton pulled off a triple-double for the first time in his seven-year career and now, he’s averaging 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 57.2% from the field and 69.1% from the free-throw line.
Noah Clowney Continues To Shine
Clowney has went from a rough beginning to the season as he was adjusting to his role coming off the bench to now being a vital member of the starting lineup thanks to his improved ability to score from multiple areas on the floor. Clowney came into the NBA with the projection of being a stretch power forward and it seems like that is becoming a reality with him averaging 14.3 points per game over the past nine contests while shooting 34.8% from three-point range for the month of November.
Nets forward Noah Clowney put up 19 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 blocks last night against the Celtics. Not only did that tie a season-high for the 3rd-year forward in terms of points scored in a game, but he’s now averaging 14.3 PPG over the past 9 games, according to Nets PR.
— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) November 22, 2025