Jordi Fernández’s first big decision as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets came on Friday night, when he started Nic Claxton. against the Boston Celtics and knocked three-time All-Star Ben Simmons out of the team’s top five.

Until now, Simmons had been the starter, with Claxton coming off the bench as he continued to recover from the left hamstring issue that caused him to miss the preseason. Fernandez had not needed to address this lineup issue yet, as Claxton was presumably preparing for the game and both players had not been at full health.

For example, Claxton was inactive during the Nets’ first game against the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Simmons played. The former then earned his first start of the season in the team’s second matchup against Memphis. That wasn’t a tough call, though, as Simmons isn’t playing on both back-to-back nights this season at this point and the Nets didn’t have Noah Clowney, Trendon Watford or Day’Ron Sharpe available.

However, in the end this article It had to be resolved, and Brooklyn’s game against Boston marked Claxton’s first start of the season with Simmons active. This, in turn, changed the Nets’ rotation, presumably for the foreseeable future.

simmons saying After the game, in comments picked up by ClutchPoints, he was said to be aware of the lineup change before kickoff: “For the flow of the team, whatever the team needs me to do, in terms of if I come off the bench or I am the owner. , I have to do it. That’s what the coach wants now. It is what it is.”

Brooklyn started Claxton with Dennis Schröder, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith. This was Fernandez’s lineup with Simmons, but the fit is much more natural with Claxton inserted in his place. Among other things, it means Finney-Smith doesn’t have to defend and box with other teams’ big men.

Simmons first checked in with 6:08 left in the first quarter. He came on alongside Ziaire Williams in a substitution that removed Claxton and Finney-Smith. Then the quarter ended, and the second quarter subsequently began, with Simmons surrounded by length and shots. That seems indicative of how Fernandez believes the Australian playmaker, still a non-shooter for all intents and purposes, will thrive.

A very interesting problem occurred with 6:30 left in the second quarter. Fernández replaced Claxton with Simmons already on the court. The 41-year-old Spaniard had previously mentioned that he was not against playing together.

“If you go back two years ago when Ben and Nic played together, their minutes together were very good,” Fernández saying before the season. “Last year, the sample size was very small. They only played ten games together out of the 15 that (Simmons) played, so you can’t use those numbers.”

The stretch with Claxton and Simmons together lasted just over two minutes. During that stretch, the Nets’ offense and defense statistically slowed down. That said, in an extremely small sample size of just 10 minutes playing together this season, the Claxton-Simmons duo has an astonishing net rating of +50.24 so far. by PBP Statistics.

Simmons left the game with about seven minutes left in the fourth period and did not return after that. Fernandez briefly turned to Finney-Smith at center before replacing Claxton and finishing the game, throughout overtime, with the former Georgia Bulldog as the man in the middle.

Looking ahead, Simmons has no particular expectations about his role — “I try not to expect anything in the NBA,” he said — but this lineup change appears to be the most logical fit for the Nets (now 4-5). The game is Saturday night against the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers (10-0), although Simmons is not expected to play since it is the second leg of a back-to-back.

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