The Nets notched their first win of the season with a 133-121 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Am Thomas, once again, led the way, this time putting up 33 points in 38 minutes on 10-17 shooting from the field and 12-14 from the line.
Ben Simmons also turned in another complete performance with a near-triple-double, putting up 11 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.
Dorian Finney-Smith and Lonnie Walker turned in solid games as well and this was a team effort win. The Nets were without Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton, plus they lost Spencer Dinwiddie to an ankle injury at halftime.
In all, a solid game for Brooklyn’s first W.
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20 Comments
Omg Doug you was wrong about shooting no way 🤣😂🤣 – Ben and clax can work example and correct me from wrong Cam. Thomas and Bridges is giving us KD and Kyrie numbers. They're not Katie and Kyrie though spacing was a problem with them still but it still work
Ben WILL get multiple tripple doubles this season.
Cam will start getting double teamed soon. Lets hope he will be able to handle that well.
Will Ben play a John Stockton type roll for the nets? A "traditional" point guard?
I think its fair to call Cam a star
Hes been pretty consistent
It was just a short while ago Nets fans was building Bridges up as the future all star and face of the franchise. Now that fans, that have a neurotic need for a cult figure, Cam Thomas has the spotlight. It's early and defenses, around the league, are going to ready and put him through the trials. I look forward to seeing whether he live up to all the hype.
I’ve watched Ben carry the 76ers as a rookie when Embiid was out for 15-20 games. He carried them to 15 or 16 consecutive wins and then to the playoffs. All he had was a bunch three point shooters and a vacant paint. DFS is kind of facilitating the stretch 5. So, Clax might be a trade chip. 😊
Nets have far exceeded my expectations so far this season! Great ball movement, spacing, rebounding, shooting percentage, Cam Thomas, DFS…..Ben has been great along with Lonnie Walker. The Nets have a lot of depth. One thing I didn’t expect is for Bridges to not be a “Batman.”
JV has a good problem dealing with all these pieces, and tonight's starting lineup was def a strong one. DFS at the 5 opened up a ton. The fast break was on fire
kat would look great on this team as a stretching 5 would bring scoring and rebounding for the team
I think me and doug had the same opinion coming into the season in regards to the nets scoring that was primarily was based on the nets prior attitudes about Cam Thomas. And I honestly don’t care about what JV saying now, because he clearly had something out for Cam Thomas last season and seasons before and I’m not buying that it’s simply that Cam Thomas matured because if you look at these games, yes, he plays a little bit more defense, but he still averages like one or two assists game so he’s basically the same guy. I believe JV had a talkin to from upper management about Ben Simmons and Cam Thomas and that’s why things changed it’s not because JV had some cerebral approach to Cam Thomas I think that’s BS. I think it was just flat out wrong and upper management told him so.
Now Cam. Thomas like I said in my previous post is clearly an elite level score you don’t put up numbers like that consistently, and it just be some sort of flash in the pan. And with that it completely changes the way you look at the team because now you have a guy who can replace what you lost in the Kyrie Irving and a KD.
As for Ben Simmons I still need to see how he is with a Claxton and I still believe he needs to get to about 15 points a game but if he’s gonna give you 10 points, 8 assists and 10 rebounds in Cam Thomas is going to give you over 25 a night. It makes up for that scoring and you take it.
I don’t want to overreact too much because honestly the Hornets are just a bad team so we’re gonna have to see how they in the upcoming schedule. But back to Cam Thomas. If he’s this type of elite scoring star, it completely changes the projection of the roster not only from a future contention standpoint, but from a roster build standpoint.
Some questions you have to explore if your marks? Do you try to extend Cam Thomas now at a bargain deal? Do you try to flip Claxton to get a stretch big that you can pair with Ben Simmons and Cam Thomas and bridges? Love Clax but would a Lauri Markanan be a better fit? Maybe.
So the better cam Thomas shows himself to be and the better Ben Simmons shows himself to be the more it throws a potentially good monkey wrench into how you look at the roster.
@LockedOnNets what do y’all think about Claxton and Dinwiddie for Siakam?
He would fit as that 3rd scorer small ball center five we need. It would make us even more versatile and would give teams fits. Plus the raptors have expressed interest in claxton last season
Loved Cam's post-game too. It's clear he's learning how to score in pressure situations. He was perfect every single time that CHA made a run. They didn't even play poorly other than getting blitzed by the Nets in the first 7 minutes. Definitely a game this team makes a nail biter last year, but Cam and Bridges stayed calm and let the offense come to them naturally, and reacted well. Nobody seemed like they forced anything. Pretty cool to see them improving in real time.
johnson being out has led to to cam thomas getting the right amount of play time
It’s time to moved on from claxton
dude since middle of last season every time they give him a chance he balls out they would be crazy to play cam thomas less than 24-30 mins
cam thomas is so clearly the best offensive scorer on the nets team . ain’t shit funny
i wouldn’t trade claxton
Cam Thomas is currently tied with Giannis for the league lead in free throw attempts, both averaging 10 attempts per game. Let that fact sink in. Furthermore, Doug raised the notion about his 2 assists in 38 minutes of play. In one-on-one situations, Thomas's unguardable abilities provide an advantage for both him and the Nets. I don't want him passing out of that. His efficiency supports that. Whenever the Hornets threatened the Nets' lead, Thomas excelled in isolation, delivering crucial baskets. Concerns about Thomas' low assist numbers will only emerge when he faces and doesn't pass out of double teams. Last season, Miami was the first team to double-team Cam Thomas after the 40-plus point game explosions. The Nets are gearing up to face Miami tomorrow night. Vaughn needs to be preparing Cam Thomas on what he should expect to see.
Simmons is looking good, not $35 million a year good, but still good. The problem with the Nets is they have a roster of players who would 6 or 7th off the bench on almost any other team in the NBA. They all belong and can play; they're just not stars, or more importantly closers. Even Thomas.