Player grades: Cam Thomas drops 40 as Nets throttle 76ers 136-121
PHILADELPHIA — The Brooklyn Nets visited Wells Fargo Center on Saturday to take on the Philadelphia 76ers and won 136-121.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 40 points and five assists while Mikal Bridges had 23 points and four assists. Lonnie Walker IV had 20 points off the bench and Cam Johnson had 13 points.
For the 76ers, Tyrese Maxey had 23 points and five assists while Terquavion Smith had 17 points. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 16 points and Jaden Springer had 11 points off the bench.
In the first half, the Nets dominated in the first quarter thanks to some outstanding play from both sides of the ball, including four Brooklyn players with at least seven points in the period. However, Brooklyn played Philadelphia to a standstill in the second quarter after Maxey got back on track with his shooting.
In the second half, it was more of the same as it became clear that Maxey could not get it going enough to shoot the 76ers back into this game without the services of Joel Embiid. Philadelphia essentially waived the white flag towards the end of the third quarter as the 76ers could not stop the Nets and could not score at an efficient rate either.
Here are your Nets player grades following Saturday’s win:
Spencer Dinwiddie: C-
Dinwiddie did not have a good shooting performance in this one as he couldn’t get anything going from three-point range despite having some good looks from that distance. He is a decent three-point shooter for his career so seeing some variance in his shooting isn’t new, but he looked to be settling from jumpshots instead of putting pressure on the rim. To his credit, he did a good job of finding his teammates when they were open for shots.
Cam Thomas: A+
Thomas had a good offensive outing in this contest as he found success looking for his opportunities to attack the rim while also taking his fair share of three-pointers. Due to the length that Philadelphia was putting on the floor at times, Thomas had his struggles trying to create openings after making some dribble penetration. He also did a great job of passing the ball as he found his teammates for some good looks on a number of occasions.
Mikal Bridges: A
Bridges played well on both ends of the floor as he had his game working from three-point range. He has shown plenty of times this season that he can get hot from three-point land and this game was no exception. Where Bridges shined in this one was doing all of the other things such as rebounding, passing, and playing solid defense in a tough matchup against Tyrese Maxey.
Cam Johnson: A-
Johnson played well in this one as he was efficient scoring the basketball despite not being able to find his rhythm from beyond the three-point line. While Johnson usually makes his offensive impact from deep, he found a way to put some points up outside of that. Johnson had one of his more well-rounded games as he contributed in almost every way on the floor, including rebounding and on defense.
Nic Claxton: A
Claxton had a great performance in this one as he found plenty of success against the 76ers without Joel Embiid. He did not shoot the ball too many times as players like Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges went off from the perimeter. Where Claxton made most of his impact was on the boards and his ability to protect the rim for Brooklyn. With Embiid ruled out, this was one of the best chances that Claxton would get to truly take advantage of a matchup.
Royce O'Neale: B
Like the rest of his teammates, O’Neale had a good performance in this one as he was virtually perfect from three-point range. This was a quiet offensive game from O’Neale as he didn’t take many shots, but he made the shots that he did get count. He did a good job of doing the other things as he tends to do for the Nets and when he does, his time is valuable outside of whether he shoots the three-ball well or not.
Ben Simmons: B+
Simmons made his return from a one-game absence and he made his limited time on the court matter as he did his customary changing-of-the-pace for Brooklyn. Jacque Vaughn said that Simmons is essentially recovered from his back injury so he should be available from this point on and he looks to be mostly himself in terms of his athleticism and processing on the court. Simmons did a great job of rebounding the basketball and as usual, he had some nice dimes in this one to his open teammates.
Lonnie Walker IV: A
Walker had one of his best games this season as he was aggressive and efficient at the same time on the offensive end of the floor. Walker had his game working from all over the court and he showed why will probably be looking at a big payday this offseason. Walker is arguably one of the better scorers on the team and he showed why in this contest in such an impressive fashion.
