There's no need to over-complicate the Nets' Game 2 loss in Philadelphia. Brooklyn couldn't hit a shot, and it's the number one, two and three reasons why they return home down 2-0.

The Nets held Joel Embiid and James Harden to 28 combined points on 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) shooting Monday.

However, their own offensive deficiencies wasted a golden opportunity to steal a game on the road. Brooklyn shot 30-of-80 (37.5 percent) from the field and 13-of-42 (31 percent) from three while mustering just 84 points.

Cam Thomas, who became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40-plus points in three straight games earlier this season, watched his team's offensive woes from the bench before recording four garbage-time minutes.

Thomas has been unable to crack the Nets' new-look rotation since the trade deadline. But on a night when Brooklyn needed scoring more than ever, it was plausible that head coach Jacque Vaughn would look to the end of the bench and see his solution.

That look never came, and Vaughn explained why postgame:

“If I felt like we were struggling to get looks, maybe that could be an answer. But I thought that we got looks, and I thought they were makable shots,” Vaughn said. “Is Cam on the back of my brain? Yes. And he knows that. Could he play when we get back to Brooklyn? Yes. But I didn't think we were struggling to get looks, the ball just didn't go in.”

Thomas most recently scored 46 points during the Nets' 134-105 loss to Philadelphia in their season finale.

However, he recorded just one assist during the performance, after which Vaughn offered a telling response when asked about the challenges of harnessing Thomas' scoring capabilities at the NBA level:

“The goal is you win as a team. So 46 points is great but we end up losing by 30,” he said. “So you’ve got to attach those together. How do you marry the 29 shots to being a productive teammate where you might not get that amount of shots in a typical game? That’s the question. So can you harness and take that ability and be able to do it in the shorter amount of time? In a more efficient time? And in a setting that benefits the entire team? That’s the challenge.”

Spencer Dinwiddie has struggled to open the series, scoring 26 total points on 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) shooting. Philadelphia has played primarily drop coverage against Dinwiddie.

The Brooklyn point guard has been unable to take advantage in the mid-range, an area where he is shooting just 41 percent this season.

Thomas traditionally excels while hunting his shots at those points on the floor. The 2021 first-round pick has also found his three-point stroke this year, shooting 40.6 percent on 3.7 attempts per game over his last 26 appearances.

Vaughn spoke confidently about the shots his team generated Monday, but the putrid shooting performance may be enough for him to dust Thomas off in Game 3 Thursday.