The NBA kicks off its inaugural In-Season Tournament on Friday, with all 30 teams competing for cash prizes. The Brooklyn Nets enter within the Eastern Conference's Group C alongside the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors.
With that, we detail Brooklyn's tournament schedule and offer bold predictions ahead of the team's first appearance:
Nets in-season tournament schedule:
Fri, Nov. 3 @Chicago, 8 p.m.
Fri, Nov. 10 @Boston, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tue, Nov. 14 vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m.
Tue, Nov. 28 vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Cam Thomas will lead East Group C in scoring
Thomas has been one of the NBA's biggest surprises after stepping into an expanded role with Brooklyn to start the season. The 22-year-old ranks eighth in the league in scoring, averaging 28.0 points on 51.3 percent shooting. Boston's Jayson Tatum is the only East Group C player higher than Thomas on the scoring list.
Thomas flashed his scoring ability at several points during his first two seasons. However, his elite efficiency and ability to produce within the flow of Brooklyn's offense has been a resounding positive through four games. Thomas is getting to the basket at a career-best rate, attempting 25 percent of his shots at the rim. He's converted on 13 of his 16 attempts at the rim (81.3 percent), which ranks in the 90th percentile among combo guards, per Cleaning the Glass.
That aggressiveness has also led to Thomas attempting 8.5 free throws per game, the eighth most in the league. All of this has allowed the third-year Net to score at an elite rate despite shooting just 30 percent from three. Thomas' heavy dose of free-throw and rim attempts give him a very realistic chance to lead East Group C in scoring, especially if his three-ball begins falling.
Nets advance to knockout rounds as East Wild Card
East Group C presents one of the weaker groups in the inaugural tournament. While Boston is off to a 4-0 start and looks like the early favorite to come out of the East this year, Orlando, Toronto and Chicago have combined for a 7-9 record thus far.
Brooklyn sits at 2-2 but led in the final minutes against Cleveland and Dallas before Donovan Mitchell and Luke Doncic carried their teams to victory. The Nets' tournament matchup with Boston is a nationally televised Friday night game at TD Garden where they will likely be a heavy underdog. However, if they can take care of business against Orlando, Toronto and Chicago, they give themselves a good chance to advance to the knockout rounds as the East's wild card.
Former Nets superstar Kevin Durant envisioned things playing out that way when giving his tournament picks.
“They’ve got so much length and athleticism over there from top to bottom. Their point guard is like 6’6”,” Durant said.
Nets advance to semi-final round
In the event the Nets can advance past pool play, it's more than likely they'll be an underdog in their first game of the knockout round. However, Brooklyn's fast-paced brand of basketball has given teams trouble through four games.
Most expected the Nets to be a high-level defensive team this season, with their offense holding them back. Through four games, Brooklyn ranks sixth in offensive rating, averaging 118.8 points (7th) and 28.0 assists (5th) while playing at the tenth-fastest pace in the league.
Further, they've made significant improvements in rebounding the basketball, an area that plagued them all of last season. After ranking 28th in 2022-23, Brooklyn has posted the NBA's second-best defensive rebounding percentage to open the season.
The Nets' offensive production and elite rebounding, along with their defensive capabilities, should give them a good chance to pull off an upset and make a surprise appearance on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas for the semi-final round.
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