Player grades: Cam Thomas drops 45 in Nets’ 129-125 loss to Bucks
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets took on the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday at Barclays Center and lost 129-125.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 45 points and four rebounds while Mikal Bridges had 31 points and four assists. Lonnie Walker IV had 19 points off the bench and Royce O’Neale had 12 points.
For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points and 12 rebounds while Damian Lillard had 21 points and seven assists. Khris Middleton had 15 points and Jae Crowder had 15 points off the bench.
In the first half, Brooklyn quickly found itself in a shootout as not only did Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas get back on track, but Giannis Antetokounmpo was seemingly unstoppable in the paint. The Nets did a good job of limiting the impact of the stars surrounding Antetokounmpo as Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez combined for 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the field.
In the second half, Brooklyn, as they have done for seemingly every game this season, battled Milwaukee to the very end thanks to continued offensive excellence from Thomas and Bridges. In the end, Antetokounmpo was just too much for the Nets to defend and Middleton started making too many shots for Brooklyn to come out on top.
Here are the Nets player grades following Monday’s loss:
Ben Simmons: B-
It looked like Simmons did not miss a step after missing Saturday’s game against the Boston Celtics. Simmons made sure to keep pushing the pace in this one and it was clear how much he means to Brooklyn’s early-clock offense. Simmons has done two things extremely well for the Nets this season: pass the ball and rebound. He did both in this game at a high level and one thing that should be talked about more is how dedicated Simmons is to screening for his teammates whenever possible.
Spencer Dinwiddie: C+
Dinwiddie was not too involved in this one as he allowed Ben Simmons to run the offense and make decisions within their various offensive actions. While he was allowing players like Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas to do their things on the offensive end, Dinwiddie did a good job of trying to maintain space on the floor so that the Bucks’ defense had to cover all of the floor.
Cam Thomas: A+
Thomas looked to be back on track in this one in terms of his offensive efficiency and swagger. It looked like Thomas was able to get whatever shot he wanted as the Bucks were playing drop coverage in its pick-and-roll defensive scheme and that allowed Thomas to work his way into the game via mid-range shots. After that, Thomas extended his game to the three-point line and that was when he really started cooking. Thomas is showing that this level of scoring is achievable within Brooklyn’s offense and that is the best part of his offensive explosion this season.
Mikal Bridges: A+
Bridges finally had the explosive and uber-efficient offensive game that the Nets fanbase has been waiting for all season. Bridges’ offensive output took a backseat to Cam Thomas’ outing, but it was clear that Bridges was confident getting to his mid-range shots to get himself going. Bridges did not get going from behind the three-point line like he usually can, but he didn’t need that with the way that he was shooting the ball from mid-range and at the rim. Also, he did a good job of limiting Damian Lillard and using his length to bother Lillard on all of his shot attempts.
Dorian Finney-Smith: B-
Finney-Smith’s touch from three-point range came crashing down, but that is more of a testament of how well he shot the three-ball heading into this game. As usual, Finney-Smith’s value goes beyond his three-point shooting as he did a good job of getting a hand in Brook Lopez’s face whenever he had the chance to shoot the ball. There will be better offensive days for Finney-Smith as certain matchups allow him to get more comfortable at the three-point line.
Royce O'Neale: B+
O’Neale had a much better shooting performance in this one than he did against the Celtics. As is customary with three-point shooting in general, it will vary from game-to-game and that explains O’Neale’s shooting perfectly. O’Neale essentially got the same quality of looks in this one as he did against Boston, but the only difference was that his shots against the Bucks went down. Aside from that, O’Neale has been a positive for Brooklyn in terms of rebounding, being able to guard bigger players like Giannis Antetokounmpo when needed, and being a secondary playmaker for the Nets.
Day'Ron Sharpe: C
Sharpe did not get much playing time in this one, but he played well in his limited time on the floor. While it’s not unusual for Sharpe to not play a lot of minutes, especially since he’s still building up his stamina, but he has been playing really well this season so it would be nice to see him get more minutes. What was impressive to see from Sharpe against Milwaukee was his willingness to go at Giannis Antetokounmpo near the rim and being unafraid to give him some body too.
Lonnie Walker IV: A-
Walker had another good offensive game to add to his growing stack of high-scoring games off the bench. As he has been doing all season to this point, Walker was doing a good job of scoring the ball at all three levels and he brought more of his downhill-driving ability so that the Bucks could witness it as well. One thing to point out is that Walker had a bit of a turnover issue in this one, but that’s more indicative of just the ball not rolling his way as opposed to him having an issue holding on to the ball.
Dennis Smith Jr: D
Smith did not make much of a box score impact in this one as he did not accrue much of any stat that someone can see. However, for what Smith was brought to Brooklyn to do, being a stalwart on the defensive end of the floor, he did what he was supposed to do.
