Player grades: Cam Thomas drops 18 points as Nets lose to Warriors 109-98
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Golden State Warriors at Barclays Center on Monday and lost 109-98.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 18 points and five rebounds while Nic Claxton had 15 points, five rebounds, and seven blocks. Royce O’Neale had 15 points off the bench and Cam Johnson had 13 points.
For the Warriors, Stephen Curry had 29 points and five rebounds while Jonathan Kuminga had 28 points and 10 rebounds. Brandin Podziemski had 15 points and Gui Santos had nine points off the bench.
In the first half, both teams shot the ball poorly as neither squad could find much of a rhythm within their offense. Johnson was the best player for Brooklyn as he put up 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the half to help give Brooklyn a 49-43 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Nets started to lose momentum of the game thanks to how poorly they played on both ends of the floor in the third quarter combined with the Warriors having their best quarter by far. O’Neale got hot from three in the fourth quarter, but with Thomas and Bridges still struggling mightily, Brooklyn wasn’t able to mount a comeback.
Here are your Nets player grades following Monday’s loss:
Spencer Dinwiddie: C-
Dinwiddie has had better games for the Nets as while he did shoot more than he has over the past couple of months, he just couldn’t find the touch that he had in the beginning of the season. This has been said plenty of times already, but Dinwiddie has found plenty of success driving to the rim, but he has not done that as much this season for some reason. To his credit, Dinwiddie did a solid job of passing the ball and he played some solid defense while trying to following Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson through their many screens that they run through.
Cam Thomas: C
Thomas had a rough shooting game in this one as he couldn’t find the touch that he’s had over the past few weeks. Thomas did a good job of getting to his sweet spots on the floor, but for some reason, he wasn’t able to get anything going. While his shooting efficiency was down, Thomas did a good job of doing other things on the floor, including being disruptive on the defensive end.
Mikal Bridges: C
Bridges was solid on the offensive end of the floor despite having some shooting troubles. Bridges was getting some good looks, but similar Cam Thomas, he just couldn’t get anything going for a long period of time. Bridges also got less shots than usual due to Brooklyn playing at a slower pace without Ben Simmons, but he made up for his struggling offense through passing the ball well and playing some good defense on Golden State’s perimeter players.
Cam Johnson: B+
Johnson played well in this game as he had his three-point shot going all game long. He also mixed in some of his dribble-drive game going to the rim and he had some nice finishes at the basket. In his all-around performance, Johnson also did a great job of rebounding the basketball, passing, and playing some solid defense.
Nic Claxton: A+
Claxton played wonderfully in this one as he was extremely efficient on the offensive end with the way that he was finishing at the basket either from the dunker spot or on lobs. Claxton doesn’t get many chances to make an impact on the offensive end of the floor, but he saw some opportunities in this one and he made the most of them. He did a good job of rebounding the basketball, but where he really made his impact was protecting the rim as he had his own block party. Claxton essentially had a perfect game until towards the end of the fourth quarter when he was thrown out for committing a flagrant foul 2 on Brandin Podziemski. It was clear that Claxton was frustrated with his lack of support on the boards from his teammates.
Royce O'Neale: B+
O’Neale had a solid game in this one as he eventually found his touch from three-point land. Until the fourth quarter, O’Neale couldn’t get anything to go from that range, but he eventually found his shot and the Nets needed every make. Other than that, O’Neale had a mostly quiet game for Brooklyn as he had to play some extended minutes because of how banged up the Nets were coming into this matchup.
Dennis Smith Jr.: B+
Smith played well in this one as he made a profound impact on both ends of the floor. Smith was solid on the offensive end as he had some nice drives to the rim, but also had some moments where he stalled the offense because of his inability to shoot from three-point range. Smith did everything that he was asked on the floor and he was his usual determined self on the defensive end of the floor and caused some real havoc with his energy and anticipation.
Lonnie Walker IV: Incomplete
Walker did not play much in this game as he suffered some tightness in his left hamstring after playing five minutes in the first quarter and he did not return after coming out.
