Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas entered the 2023-24 season with a solidified rotation role for the first time in his career, and he's wasted no time adding his name to the NBA record books.

The 22-year-old continued his hot streak Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets, scoring 33 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 12-of-14 from the free-throw line, leading the Nets to their first win. The performance marks Thomas' third-straight game scoring 30-plus to open the year. He's the second-youngest player to accomplish the feat in NBA history, trailing only Shaquille O'Neal.

Thomas couldn't crack Brooklyn's rotation late last season despite a glaring need for scoring following the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. However, the LSU product impressed this preseason and has been rewarded with an expanded role. Though three games, he ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring, averaging 33.0 points on 62.5 percent shooting, behind only Luka Doncic (39.5), Donovan Mitchell (35.0) and Stephen Curry (33.5).

Head coach Jacque Vaughn pointed to Thomas' improved ability to play with the flow of the team's offense when speaking about his early breakout.

“He's gaining an extreme amount of trust with his teammates. We know he has the ability to score the basketball, but it's not forced. It's within the flow of our offense,” Vaughn said postgame Monday. “At certain times, we need him to get a bucket and he's capable of doing that also. So he's learning how to survey the game. When he's needed, when he's a facilitator, when he's getting to the paint, which he's done at a high level. So he's just continuing to grow as a third-year player and I'm happy to see it.”

Cam Thomas promptly chose one word when describing the key to his early success: patience.

“I'm just reading the defense and letting everything come to me,” he said. “Not forcing anything or rushing anything, because that's how you get in trouble because then the defense can load up on you. So my main thing has been just making the right reads for my teammates.”

Despite an inconsistent role during a dysfunctional start to his career in Brooklyn, Thomas has had no problem rising to the occasion when his number has been called. He has played 25-plus minutes 41 times with the Nets. In those games, he is averaging 21.6 points on 49/37/87 shooting splits.

That elite efficiency has allowed Thomas to collect an impressive number of scoring records during his limited opportunities. He became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40-plus points in three straight games last season. This year, he scored 36 points during Brooklyn's loss to Cleveland Wednesday, the most ever for a player off the bench during a season-opener. He also became the first Net in the franchise's NBA history to score 30 points in consecutive games to open a season.

The 2021 first-round pick should only garner more opportunities to make history as his role grows for a new-look Brooklyn squad in 2023-24.