The Brooklyn Nets moved Cam Thomas to the bench in favor of Dorian Finney-Smith during a 110-104 loss to the Washington Wizards Friday. Thomas, who is leading the team in scoring at 22.8 points per game on 45/37/85 shooting splits, had started Brooklyn's last 14 games after returning from an ankle injury.

Head coach Jacque Vaughn revealed his reasoning for the change following his team's letdown performance.

“Really the numbers, they are what they are,” Vaughn said. “That group that was previously starting wasn’t getting out to good starts, we were getting outrebounded. I was hoping that we would be able to be so good offensively that it would cover up some of the holes defensively. It just hadn't, so that's what forced the change.”

Nets' lineup change explained

Nets' Cam Thomas with fire in his eyes

The Nets' previous starting five of Spencer Dinwiddie, Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton had posted a -17.1 net rating, ranking in the 13th percentile among lineups to play at least 100 minutes, per Cleaning the Glass. Despite sacrificing size, defense and rebounding in favor of shot creation with Thomas replacing Finney-Smith, the unit had posted a lackluster 104.0 offensive rating.

Brooklyn's starting lineup with Finney-Smith in place of Thomas was a plus-15 in their minutes against Washington. The Nets led by nine with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, they allowed the Wizards to cut the deficit to two entering the fourth.

Vaughn's squad laid an egg in the fourth quarter as they were outscored 26-18 to give Washington its sixth win of the season. Brooklyn shot 5-of-23 from the field (21.7 percent) and 1-of-6 from three with two assists and three turnovers in the frame. After leading by one with 5:40 remaining, the Nets shot 1-of-13 to close the game.

Defensively, they were unable to get stops against the likes of Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdija, Corey Kispert and Mike Muscala, allowing Washington to shoot 6-of-13 from the field in the final 5:40. Vaughn jockeyed his backcourt of Thomas, Dinwiddie and Dennis Smith Jr. to and from the bench in search of answers on both ends.

“That problem will arise again,” the coach said of his team's late-game defensive struggles. “Just because you start doesn't mean you're gonna finish, just because you finish doesn't make you a non-starter. We had multiple guys out on the floor in that fourth quarter to try to give us some ability to score and stop them… We just couldn't get stops, and a lot of it was man-to-man. Being able to guard the dude in front of you.”

Bridges (6-of-14), Dinwiddie (5-of-16) and Thomas (6-of-15) shot a combined 17-of-45 from the field (37.8 percent). Brooklyn's free-throw struggles continued, shooting 17-of-27 (63 percent). While the Nets have attempted more free throws than any other team over their last five games (31.4 per game), they've shot just 72.0 percent, the NBA's third-worst percentage.

Vaughn's squad attempted just 28 threes Friday, converting on nine (32 percent). Brooklyn has seen its run-and-gun offense ground to a half during a 2-7 stretch, ranking 17th in three-point attempts and 22nd in three-point percentage (34.9). The Nets rank dead last in three-point attempts over their last five games.

Meanwhile, opponents are shooting 41.6 percent from deep over Brooklyn's last nine games, the NBA's second-best percentage. The Wizards converted on 15 threes Friday, giving them an 18-point advantage from beyond the arc.

Brooklyn's letdown performance comes after resting nearly the entire rotation Wednesday versus the Milwaukee Bucks. The loss drops the Nets to 15-17 ahead of road matchups with the Oklahoma City Thunder, New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets.