Brooklyn Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe has been a backup center for the Nets since coming to the franchise as the 29th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft out of North Carolina. Brooklyn has been relying on Nic Claxton to be the starting center, but in Friday’s 119-99 loss at the Washington Wizards, Sharpe had to step up as the starter and he played well considering the circumstances.

“One thing we know is Day’Ron is going to play extremely hard. From the minutes he’s played to almost 30 minutes, pretty much 30 minutes,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said following Friday’s loss. With Claxton missing the game due to personal reasons, Sharpe was asked to get into the starting lineup and provide production to what the team is used to seeing from Claxton.

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“Your body has to adjust to that so it’s a great opportunity for him to play those minutes,” Fernandez continued. “But, also being careful with that, the shortest stints I’ve tried to keep watching on how he reacted and, rebounding nine. I still think he could have gotten more and a little more efficient, but I really liked how hard he played, how engaged he was, and how he took advantage of the opportunity.”

Sharpe, 24, is averaging 7.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 60.1% from the field and 64.9% from the free-throw line in 16.7 minutes per game. Sharpe finished Friday’s loss at the Wizards with an impressive stat line of 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks while playing 30 minutes and only picking up two fouls during his time on the floor.

Sharpe had to spent the majority of his time going against Alex Sarr and Marvin Bagley III and Sharpe handled himself well despite Sarr scoring 19 points and Bagley scoring 12 points of his own off the bench. Ultimately, Sharpe has played well whether he’s coming off the bench or in the starting lineup so it was encouraging to see him continuing his excellent play in a pinch when the Nets needed him against Washington.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Jordi Fernandez evaluates Day’Ron Sharpe’s start vs. Wizards