Cam Thomas hit 13 of his first 20 shots and scored 36 points on Wednesday night, but his final attempt came up short and so did the Nets in a 114-113 loss to Cleveland in their season opener at Barclays Center.
Afterwards, head coach Jacque Vaughn said he was trying to call timeout on the play because the play was designed for Mikal Bridges to take the last shot.
It was one of few mistakes Thomas made on that end of the court, as he came off the bench to provide some much-needed offense to a Nets team that initially looked like it was going to get run out of the building in the early going.
But Thomas got the Nets back in the game, scoring 15 points in the first quarter in just seven minutes.
Thomas, who showed flashes of this kind of scoring prowess at times last season — especially after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were traded — was one of the Nets’ few weapons in the early going, as Bridges struggled to heat up.
He ended up with 24 points in the first half.
“It felt good, obviously,’’ Thomas said of his performance. “Obviously, you want to win, but it’s good to always reflect on what you do well.”
Thomas was part of a second unit that also got strong showings from Dorian Finney-Smith (10 points) and Dennis Smith Jr. (10 points), but they were unable to overcome some spotty offense from the starters, with Ben Simmons, Spencer Dinwiddie and Nic Claxton combining for just 16 points on 6 of 19 shooting.
Thomas brought the sellout crowd to life with hustle plays in the first half and put the Nets up by four points with 1:36 to go in the fourth quarter by hitting one of two free throws.
Bridges added a pair of free throws to increase the lead to six before Donovan Mitchell sparked Cleveland’s late comeback before Thomas’ late, deep 3 fell short and Cam Johnson’s put-back attempt also missed.