Cam Thomas’ Nets injury return looming amid tough stretch
MILWAUKEE — Injured Cam Thomas spent Monday’s loss in a hoodie and street clothes, on the end of the bench in Miami talking with Nets owner Joe Tsai.
But it sounds like Thomas could be suiting up sooner rather than later, and finally make his return to the court.
It can’t come a moment too soon for Tsai and the Nets.
“Cam’s doing great,” said Nets coach Jordi Fernandez. “As well as Ziaire [Williams]. They played five-on-five and did a great job. So we’ll see how they feel after. That’s part of the process that they’re in right now. It seems like they’re getting close.”
Thomas will miss at least one more game, Thursday’s tilt in Milwaukee marking his 12th straight absence with a hamstring injury.
The Nets come out of Christmas not having had their leading scorer since before Thanksgiving.
And the results have been ugly.
The Nets are just 3-8 since Thomas was injured, with their offense cratering badly.
“It’ll be nice when we get Cam Thomas back just to have some … a real half-court bucket, half-court scorer,” center Nic Claxton said. “That’ll be good. We’re missing him right now a lot.”
Thomas has indeed been a bucket, averaging a team-high 24.7 points on impressive .461/.389/.866 shooting splits, all but the last representing career highs.
He’s also risen to Fernandez’s challenge to become more efficient, shown in his Effective Field Goal Percentage (.544) and True Shooting (.606).
And the offense has been hampered along with Thomas.
The Nets had overachieved this season largely on the strength of their surprising attack.
When Thomas last played on Nov. 25, the Nets ranked eighth in the league in Offensive Rating (115.0).
But the Nets are just 26th — or fifth-worst — in the games since, at 105.9.
The departure of point guard Dennis Schroder has just made it worse.
“Obviously it’s different for everybody. You’ve got a lot of people in the spots, but our offense is different now, so we’ve all just got to adjust. It’s part of the game. We’re professionals. So it’s not easy. It’s definitely a challenge,” Claxton said. “But we’ll get there. And then, like I said, when we get [Thomas] back, that’ll help.”
Without Schroder to run the pick-and-roll, Brooklyn has been almost completely reliant on Ben Simmons getting them going in transition.
When they haven’t been able to run or get points out of early offense, they’ve sputtered in the half court.
The roster is lacking in players that can get their own shot or beat defenders off the dribble.
Even though Cam Johnson — in the midst of a midcareer breakout — has shown a newfound ability to do so, it’s not his strength.
But it is — and always has been — Thomas’.
His 1.24 points per possession in isolation is the best in the league (among players averaging at least two isos over 15 games).
The august company right behind Thomas — Jayson Tatum’s 1.18, Kevin Durant’s 1.14 and Kyrie Irving’s 1.13 — should show just how prolific he’s become.
And just how important to a team that was already talent-starved.
Thomas already led the NBA in scoring from handoffs, something Fernandez has leveraged well.
But in the post-Schroder offense, he will likely see more time as the ball handler in the pick-and-roll.
His 1.08 ppg is top 10 in the league.
“We’re just trying to find our identity, figuring out what we want to do and how we’re going to score and what those shots look like. We’ll continue to develop that and get better at that, I think,” said Cam Johnson. “We have just a different flow 1735189615. It’s just how it is.”
Dorian Finney-Smith (left calf contusion) and Simmons (lower back injury management) are both questionable vs. the Bucks. Williams (left knee sprain) is out.
