ORLANDO, Fla. — The Nets have had one of the NBA’s worst attacks ever since they lost Cam Thomas.
But they’re on the brink of getting back their leading scorer.
And they hope they’ll get their missing offense back with him.
Thomas was listed as probable for Sunday’s game against the Magic.
The young shooting guard has missed the past 13 games with a left hamstring strain.
Brooklyn was just 4-9 in those games, so his return can’t come a moment too soon for the struggling Nets.
“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 recently of getting Thomas back. “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.
And to say Brooklyn has missed him is a gross understatement.
Despite most sportsbooks having projected the Nets to finish with the second-worst record in the league, they came out of the gates surprisingly well based on a better than expected attack.
They were 8-10 after a win at then-Western Conference leading Golden State, and had the league’s eighth-best Offensive Rating (115.0).
But Thomas got hurt in that victory over the Warriors, and since then Brooklyn has had the 29th-ranked Offensive Rating, or second-worst at 105.5.
Without point guard Dennis 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 get easy buckets in transition or early offense, they’ve sputtered to score in the half-court.
They don’t have players who can self-create.
Even though small forward Cam Johnson — who missed Friday’s loss to San Antonio with a right hip contusion, and is listed as probable against the Magic — 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 hasn’t played since before Thanksgiving, and Brooklyn’s offense promptly cratered as soon as he left the lineup.
“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.”
With Thomas listed as probable, that could be as soon as Sunday against the Magic.
