Cam Thomas has always been a scorer, there’s no denying that. He finished his high school career at the prestigious Oak Hill Academy as the program’s all-time leading scorer. The guard continued that trend in college at LSU, becoming the first freshman to lead the SEC in scoring since 1989.
And then in his second season with the Nets last year, Thomas became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 40 points in three consecutive games. The 22-year-old added another record to his list Friday night in Brooklyn’s 125-120 loss to the Dallas Mavericks — becoming the first player in Nets NBA history to record 30 or more points in each of the team’s first two games of a season.
However, it was his defense that stood out to head coach Jacque Vaughn, who said Thomas is being “rewarded” on the court for his overall effort.
“Yeah I think overall, knowing the strategy of the Mavericks, trying to put him in pick-and-roll so he could guard individual defense. I love the fact that he stayed locked into our coverage, didn’t deviate from that, and really showed some growth on that end of the floor,” Vaughn said. “And we talked about that, he’s been rewarded for being locked in, engaged, being a great teammate on both sides of the basketball.”
Thomas said after the loss that even former Net and current Maverick Kyrie Irving has taken note of his start to the season, telling him he’s proud of the way the third-year guard been playing.
“It was just kind of like a big brother being proud of his little bro, just doing what I’m doing these first two games,” Thomas said on his interaction with Irving after the game. “Obviously I’d rather have the wins, but he was just telling me that he’s proud of me, how I’ve been playing. That means a lot, honestly, cause you know we go way back a little bit, so that’s good.”
Thomas shot 12-of-19 from the floor over 33 minutes in the loss, finishing with 30 points, seven rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. The 30-point performance came in his first start of the season, after he scored 36 points off the bench in the Nets’ season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Following the game, Thomas was asked what was working for him against the Mavs to put up another big scoring night.
“They were just switching a lot, and then whatever matchup I got, I felt like I could beat my matchup and just go downhill, attack, don’t settle,” Thomas said. “That was really my game plan for me, when I’d seen the defense on the film, just don’t settle. When you get to the paint you can get whatever you, the pass out, or the finish to the hoop, the floaters. That’s what was really working for me tonight. I felt like that was a good game plan on my part for me.”
While Thomas has been showing promise, Brooklyn is still searching for their first win of the season. He had a look to tie the game with 15 seconds left after Luka Doncic‘s go-ahead three, but missed his three-point attempt. Vaughn later added that the loss is another learning lesson for Thomas and the Nets, who will look to get in the win column Monday night when they take on the Hornets in Charlotte.
“I think you continue to put our guys in those situations,” Vaughn said. “Two nights now of games decided by one point, tonight decided by five points. You continue to build… being in these positions and knowing how to respond to it. I think we were much more organized tonight at the end of the game, which showed. You just continue to grow from there. I love putting our guys in this position and I look forward to it.”
