ORLANDO, Fla. — As soon as Cam Thomas returned, so did the Nets' offense. But in the end, it was the defense that cost the Magic their game.
The guard appeared in his first game since injuring his hamstring before Thanksgiving and looked like he didn't miss a beat, but the Nets were unable to maintain a 21-point cushion or take the game to victory. He couldn't stop Cole Anthony on his leading drive, causing the team to collapse. They lost 102-101 in front of a capacity crowd of 19,397 at Kia Center.
Anthony scored 10 points in the second half after Jalen Suggs left with a sprained right wrist. He drove for the win with 0.8 seconds left.
Fittingly, Thomas missed his final shot at the buzzer. But his return bodes well for the Nets.
He finished with 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists off the bench despite strict playing time restrictions. But every moment of his play mattered to the Nets, who traded away starting power forward Dorian Finney-Smith just hours before tipoff. And with point guard Dennis Schroder already departed earlier this month, they needed Thomas' scoring punch.
“For a CT to be a CT, you need a CT,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We all know how talented he was. His superpower is scoring. And he needs to continue to be efficient and become even more efficient. And his His playmaking has to get better and he has to continue to step up defensively. That's the plan for him.
“I'm excited to have him back. A player you know can score a ton, so we'll be able to run him through and play second-side pick-and-rolls and get him into action.” So I'm excited. It's not like I'm making a big deal out of it because I can just sit back and let him do what he has to do.”
Thomas had missed the past 13 games after injuring his left hamstring against Golden State. The Nets had the eighth-best offensive rating at 8-10 after the win over the Warriors, but have since gone just 4-9 with the second-to-last offensive rating.
The impact Thomas' return had on the offense was obvious.
“We're excited to have him back,” Fernandez said. “His teammates were excited. He was excited and had a smile on his face. So today is a good day for us.”
But not a great ending.
Orlando was without Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero, and the Nets lost 0-4 against the Magic.
Jonathan Isaac's layup with 3:15 left in the first inning put them down 21-18, but the Nets held the Magic scoreless for the next 4:19.
The Nets tormented Orlando, shooting 0-of-3 and committing five turnovers. And by the time Thomas found Nic Claxton's alley-oop with 11 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first half, they were leading 32-21.
The Nets led by as many as 21 points at 71-50 with 7:55 left in the third after Keon Johnson's free throw.
Ben Simmons hit a 3-pointer off Jalen Wilson with 7:16 left to take a 97-80 lead. So I surrendered the lead.
Wilson fouled Goga Bitadze and Goga Bitadze's free throw put the Nets down 20-2 with 17.7 seconds left.
Wilson earned a trip to the line himself and sank both with 6.2 seconds left in regulation to get the Nets back on track. However, Anthony beat his opponent and hit a 4-foot shot into the lane, so there was no victory or even overtime.
Thomas missed a desperate 3 at the buzzer.
