Back in January 2023, Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton boasted to reporters that he’d never lost to the New York Knicks. Since that statement, Claxton and the Nets haven’t beaten them. Claxton shot 6-for-6 and finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a 122-115 Nets victory that must have made the then-23-year-old feel invincible against his crosstown rivals. At the time, the Nets had a 10-game winning streak against the Knicks, with Claxton playing in six of the games, though Claxton did lose to them in Madison Square Garden during his rookie season. One week after Claxton’s postgame comments, the Nets traded Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks. Three days later, they sent Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. A team that was 31-19 at the end of January finished 45-37 and got swept in the first round of the playoffs. They also started getting regularly beat by the Knicks. Brooklyn lost their last two games of the season to the Knicks by a combined 42 points. The Knicks leapfrogged t
