Exclusive | Noah Clowney continuing to impress Nets with game slowing down after first NBA taste

SAN DIEGO — With an all-new coaching staff in Brooklyn, Noah Clowney will be looking to make an impression, and state his case for playing time going forward.Injuries will ensure he gets that chance, sooner rather than later.The 20-year-old is assured of playing significant minutes in Tuesday night’s preseason opener against the Clippers, and will most likely be in the starting lineup at center.“Yeah.

Also, I feel like that’s what we’ve been doing during the summer,” Clowney told The Post.“I’ve been working during the summer.

So, I think they see me in Summer League, things like that.You’re obviously always open to making a good impression of any chance I can.”Starting center Nic Claxton and backup center Day’Ron Sharpe are both out for the preseason opener with hamstring issues, with no clarity on how much time Sharpe could miss after not even traveling to the California leg of training camp.It has left the door cracked for Clowney.

One source said he looked “great” in open runs, and he’s been a standout in camp.“Noah, he’s getting better, man.He’s getting real good,” Dorian Finney-Smith gushed of Clowney.

“He’s getting real good.You know, the game is slowing down for him.

That tends to happen in your second year after you get some bump.He’s shooting the ball a lot more, and with a lot more confidence.

So, again, he’s going to have a great year.He’s been getting better all summer.”Finney-Smith is the player who Clowney could vie most with for time at power forward this regular season.But in the preseason, he’ll open at center with both Claxton and Sharpe sidelined.“Yeah, like I said last week, his summer has been very, very good.

We’re very happy [with] where he’s at right now,” new coach Jordi Fernandez said.“Obviously he’s going to play minutes in these preseason games.

And he’s fighting — like all these guys are fighting — for starting spots, they’re fighting for minutes in the rotatio...