The Nets’ past two games went down to the wire against the Bucks and the Wizards. Head coach Jordan Ott would have loved to avoid that for once by picking up a comfortable win. Unfortunately for him, the Nets found themselves down by as many as 16 in the first quarter against the Spurs on Sunday.
Offense was hard to come by in the first period for Brooklyn by only scoring 20 points. It was the complete opposite for the Spurs, particularly for Tre Jones and Joshua Primo. The duo had their team in cruise control with the lead. San Antonio as a whole had a 30-point outburst in the first quarter. Luckily for the Nets, Cameron Thomas was finally able to put his mark on the game. Thomas went for 12 points in the second period alone to finish the half with 14 points. The Nets were in striking distance, down five.
In the third quarter, Brooklyn kept their foot on the gas. Thomas could not be contained and the Nets finally figured the Spurs out defensively. They were able to hold San Antonio to 23 points in the third period. Thanks to the defensive effort, the Nets captured their first lead of the game at 75-74 before the start of the fourth.
It was deja vu for Jordan Ott and his team. They were going tit for tat with the Spurs to decide who was leaving the building with the win. Again, it was Cameron Thomas who stepped up in the clutch. He made shot after shot for the Nets on his way to 36 points on 11-for-25 shooting. Thomas’ accurate free throw shooting and shot making down the stretch was enough to give Brooklyn the 104-100 win. Alize Johnson (13 PTS, 14 REBS) finished the contest with a double-double too, showing shades of his debut performance with the Nets a few months ago.
After the game, Thomas was asked how he’s able to continue stepping up in pressure situations. His response:
“Confidence. That’s my best friend right there.”
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