To say the Brooklyn Nets were short-handed on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers is an understatement in their 136-133 win. They were missing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Royce O'Neale and T.J. Warren. Yet they managed to pull off one of their best wins of the season behind Cam Thomas' career-high 33 points. After the game, Thomas remarked how much it matters to have the trust of the coaching staff as per Brian Lewis of the New York Post.
Cam Thomas after a career-high 33: "It means everything and when your coach trusts you and the coach staff trust you. You play more freely, play real hard. So I'm just glad I got the coach's trust and the coaching staff. It helps me a lot." #Nets
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) December 11, 2022
Now in his second year in the NBA with the Nets, Cam Thomas hasn't seen much playing time this season. He's appeared in 20 games so far but is only averaging around 14.4 minutes per game. He began the season out of the rotation, saw an increase in minutes early in November, and has since seen his sporadic playing time. He didn't even start against the Pacers despite the Nets being without several key players, but he played 29 minutes off the bench on the way to scoring a career-best 33 points on 65 percent shooting and 100 percent from three-point range.
Coming into Saturday's game, Thomas had been averaging 6.1 points per game and shooting 35.9 percent from the field and 28 percent from three-point range. After impressing as a rookie last season, Thomas inexplicably found himself on the outside looking in under Steve Nash. He has been impressive though when he has been given a chance including a two-game stint in the G League last season with the Long Island Nets when he averaged 40.5 points.
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