Nic Claxton Shines, Nolan Traoré Orchestrates as Nets’ Growth Shows in Win Over Bulls

The Brooklyn Nets have their first winning streak since late December, when the team went 7-4 while boasting the league's best defensive rating.

The Nets kicked off their week with a 123-115 win over the Chicago Bulls, a team that is seemingly intent on running three guards at a time.

Nic Claxton feasted on the Bulls' lack of size inside, finishing with 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting, 10 rebounds, and four assists. Noah Clowney added 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Nolan Traoré put up 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting and 13 assists, organizing the flow of the Nets' offense as soon as the ball was tipped.

"It was outstanding," Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. "You see 13 assists to want to three turnovers. He touched the paint constantly. Obviously, his speed is a factor, but he was always under control if he had to keep his dribble alive, and he made the right play over and over and over. Noah said that his teammates benefited from it. Great to see that. It's part of development, and we got to keep growing. We got to keep getting better."

Fernandez mixed and matched several different lineup combinations throughout the contest, running a lineup featuring Ben Saraf, Drake Powell, Ziaire Williams, Jalen Wilson, and Day'Ron Sharpe from the 4:24 mark in the first quarter up until the 7:13 mark in the second quarter.

Fernandez ran that same lineup again late in the third quarter, though it had a much shorter leash with the Bulls making a run late in the period.

Though Drake Powell had a posterizing slam that brought the arena to its feet, Williams was the one constant, staying on the court from the 5:13 mark in the third quarter all the way to the four-minute mark in the final period of play.

"His ball pressure is always a factor," Fernandez said. "He got a couple of deflections right there. His activity, his length is great. He scored out of cuts, out of give-and-goes. Those possessions were huge for us because we were struggling a little bit, and we know between the ball pressure and those positive offensive possessions he had that he finished with layups. I decided to keep him a little bit longer. So credit to him big part of us getting the win, and it's good to see because you need the bench. You need everybody to contribute."