The Brooklyn Nets have seen their season go off the rails over the second half of the season as they can’t seem to establish any rhythm for a playoff-level finish. One of the few bright spots for a team seemingly destined to finish this season outside of the play-in tournament has been guard Cam Thomas.
Thomas, in just his third season out of LSU after being taken by the Nets with the 27th overall pick in the 2021, made his return to the lineup for Saturday’s 110-99 loss at the Charlotte Hornets after missing six games with a right ankle/midfoot sprain. Not only did he score 31 points in 30 minutes of playing time, but he seemed to be the only reason that Brooklyn was competitive in the contest.
Much has been made about Thomas on the defensive end of the flor and while most scorers have some flaw in their defensive game, Thomas clearly has a huge impact on the Nets’ offense. When Thomas is on the floor, as many saw on Saturday, the offense has another guy to go when Mikal Bridges or Dennis Schroder cannot find an opening in the defense through the pick-and-roll or whatever the offensive play call was for that possession.
Against Charlotte, Thomas scored at least 30 points for the 10th time this season and yet, he wasn’t able to get much help from his teammates in terms of shotmaking and the team’s overall defense was porous at best. Thomas pointed towards effort being the reason that the Nets are losing games at this point of the season:
“Just effort, man. That’s all it is to it when you try to keep somebody in front. Some of it is game as far as when they come and peel, we mess up the coverage sometimes as a whole, but at some point, you just got to take the challenge and guard your man one-on-one. If he make it over you, he make it over you. So, just force the toughest shot you can.”
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