When you’re rebuilding and the kids are all right, the game can be great.
It wasn’t played on a nerf hoop with limited ceiling space or lighting, nor did it feature a bunch of school kids, but by all other standards, last night’s game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Washington Wizards was a basement hoops battle for the ages.
Stuck toward the bottom end of the Eastern Conference standings, both teams are more or less in the league’s cellar. With each all but eliminated from the playoffs as well, the game’s result meant very with exception to bragging rights.
But in the moment for the Nets and Wizards, with all the back-and-forth, competitive action, it couldn’t have felt like that.
I know it sure as hell didn’t feel meaningless every time I went up against my middle school pals in mini-basketball after school on a Friday. Pumped up on Domino’s pizza and grape soda, those games might as well have been called by Mike Breen on a prime-time ABC broadcast with a trip to the NBA Finals up for grabs.
The Nets too felt that competitive energy — even if it was all for a measly win 28th win of the season — the basketball equivalent of a cold last slice of stuffed crust. They didn’t get Breen or national TV spotlight, but they did get Ryan Ruocco, Sarah Kustok, the YES crew, and an exceedingly entertaining win. Here’s what we learned.
Cam Thomas is a Reason to Keep Watching
Brooklyn’s natural-born bucket-getter from LSU was back last night in more ways than one. Cam Thomas finished the game with a team-high 38 points and seven assists while shooting 14-of-27 from the field. Back spasm? Eat your heart out.
But the way Thomas filled up the box score had to bring a smile to even his most loyal non-believers.
The first period included much of what we’ve seen from years past: pure scoring prowess. Thomas poured in 17 points while shooting 6-of-9 from the field. It was the fourth-highest scoring frame by a Net all season.
But the second saw him portray the new set of skills he’s been working on all year. With an abundance of scoring on display in the first, Washington’s doubles came quickly in the following quarter. Thomas was quicker, making the right reads to find the open man time after time.
TH ️MAS ➡️ BRIDG3S pic.twitter.com/TSsHE3TBwc
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 27, 2024
Thomas even featured his ability to hang in the air, something we often see him use to finish around bigger defenders, to fake out the Washington defense and hit the man in the clear. That’s top-notch manipulation from a ball-handler. With that one, he tallied six assists in the frame.
After hitting the ‘lift’ shooter on the previous possession, Cam Thomas hit the alley-oop here (Do I spot a little manipulation with the eyes?) pic.twitter.com/TjLSrCGu5C
— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 27, 2024
Watching Thomas last night was like watching a certain Adam Sandler character reveal his recently discovered putting skills during the 1996 PGA Tour Championship. “Happy learned how to put,” but switch it to, “Cam learned how to facilitate.” Oh uh.
Marquee performances always go down better when there’s a W attached to them and thankfully Brooklyn got that last night. But whether you’re watching for entertainment or for development to build on for next year, Cam Thomas checks both those boxes. He’s undoubtedly the lead reason as to why anyone might want to keep watching this team.
Transition Defense is Your Reason Not to
For as well as Thomas played at the offensive end, something needed to go drastically wrong at the other for this one to be a game. Ladies and gentlemen…I give you last night’s transition defense.
The Wizards love to run, averaging the fourth most transition possessions per game in the league. After missed shots or even after inbounding the ball, the Wiz Kids enjoyed pushing the pace and the Nets often got caught with their shoes untied.
Washington finished with only 12 fast break points last night, but many more were of that “quick down the court” nature, even if they weren’t technically deemed transition buckets by scorekeepers. Poor communication was just as much of a culprit for the defensive crime as poor effort.
Nets’ transition defense has been — well I don’t even know that it has been pic.twitter.com/b9TVcMPwZA
— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 27, 2024
If you thought that one was bad, check out Kyle Kuzma’s bucket right around the 4:23 mark of the third period. I don’t know how Dennis Schröder could have stopped Kuz one-on-one there, but it certainly wasn’t that way, opting to go zero-on-one.
Shouting and clamoring for the Nets to tighten things up here, or anywhere else really, is a fool’s errand at this point. Their season will end in about two weeks and there’s no change on the court they can make to reverse that.
However, weak transition defense is right up there with poor defensive rebounding in terms of unenjoyable things to watch on a basketball court. If anything, they should clean that up to put out a better basketball-watching product and maybe, just maybe, claw their way to some extra wins and establish something to build on for next year.
Everyone’s a Closer…And Nobody is a Closer
When the Brooklyn Nets lost their first two games of the season on last-minute shots from opposing stars, the topic of “who’s Brooklyn’s go-to-guy” came far earlier than anyone would have preferred.
For a time, Mikal Bridges wore that hat. Jacque Vaughn exclusively put the ball in his hands down the stretch earlier this season. The results were often mixed, but the Nets still had a few fine moments with him pulling it in the clutch.
CRAZY ENDING IN ATL ‼️
TRAE YOUNG 3.
MIKAL BRIDGES BUCKET.BROOKLYN SURVIVES TO SECURE THE W! pic.twitter.com/WYA4MtcjyX
— NBA (@NBA) December 7, 2023
The ball eventually found its way to Thomas’ hands more as the season progressed, and certainly more often after Kevin Ollie took over for Vaughn. Schröder later started handling it and even going iso down the stretch on a few occasions as well.
That would have been the story last night had the overtime period not ensued, as Schröder assumed the offensive conductor role for almost the entire fourth period. The team turned back to CT in overtime though, where he propelled the Nets to an early overtime advantage which they never surrendered, despite coming close to on a few occasions.
MY GOODNESS CAM THOMAS
38 POINTS & COUNTING pic.twitter.com/t4O4hmu5MZ
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 28, 2024
The term “closer” is often saved for the guy hitting shots down the stretch for a team, but if you break away from that status quo, it’s reasonable to say Nic Claxton was more of a “closer” for the Nets last night than anyone.
Right before the overtime period, Clax rejected a would-be game-winner from Corey Kispert. He even got in on the offensive side of things early in the fourth, cleaning up a miss for Brooklyn’s first points in the added frame. He promptly jogged back down and rose up for another rejection after that.
Nic Claxton is dominating, just had another block while I’m typing this. Goodness pic.twitter.com/chVwZSC0xO
— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 28, 2024
Virtuoso.
Claxton’s gone through stretches like this before where he looks like a man possessed. But last night, not even a prime Bill Murray with a fully loaded proton pack could have saved the Wizards. He finished the contest with 17 points, 13 rebounds, an assist, two steals, and three blocks.
Across each side of the ball, with multiple candidates taking up the mantle each night, it’s never been more clear that the Nets do not have a certified closer. They have guys that can step up and fill that role, but no predetermined guy.
This fact has more often than not hurt Brooklyn this season, but last night it helped. The team playing the Washington Wizards probably had something to do with that, but let’s try to take the positive nights when we can.