Player grades: Cam Thomas scores 26 as Nets lose to Cavaliers in Paris 111-102
The Brooklyn Nets played the Cleveland Cavaliers at Accor Arena on Thursday as part of the NBA Paris Game and lost 111-102.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 26 points and six rebounds while Mikal Bridges had 26 points and six rebounds. Lonnie Walker IV had 20 points off the bench and Nic Claxton had 13 points.
For the Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell had 45 points and 12 rebounds while Caris LeVert had 21 points and three rebounds off the bench. Issac Okoro and Jarrett Allen had 12 points each.
In the first half, this game couldn’t have been more of a lopsided affair as everything was working for the Cavaliers thanks to Donovan Mitchell’s 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and three steals. The only positive for the Nets in the half was that Cam Thomas (11 points) kept their team afloat for as long as he could.
In the second half, the Nets looked to be heading for a second straight game in which they looked pretty bad until the sequence when Cleveland center Tristan Thompson was thrown out of the game in the fourth quarter with a flagrant foul 2 on Claxton. Thomas and Walker were instrumental in helping Brooklyn get back into this game, but their 26-point deficit was just too much to come back from with the time remaining.
Here are your Nets player grades following Thursday’s loss:
Spencer Dinwiddie: Incomplete
It has been noted on Nets Wire throughout this season that Dinwiddie is having a down year, but this is a continuation of what has been his main issue this season. Dinwiddie did come into this game with an illness so it’s possible that is affecting more than any of us know. The point remains that Dinwiddie’s good/great games have come few and far between and it seems that he may be a better fit on a contending team where he can have a more defined/reduced role. His defense wasn’t good and he did not provide much for the team on the offensive end either. According to Jacque Vaughn, Dinwiddie did not come back into the game due to him struggling with the effects of his illness.
Mikal Bridges: C
Bridges had a rough game on both ends of the floor as he couldn’t score thanks to the way that the Cavaliers were switching on every pick-and-roll/dribble hand-offs in the Nets’ offense. He seems to get into plenty of trouble when he has to create off-the-dribble and Cleveland exposed that on multiple possessions in this one. Bridges also struggled to stay in front of Donovan Mitchell and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing given Michell’s star ability, Bridges being unable to stay in front of his mind seems to be a continuation of a troubling theme for Bridges this season.
Cam Johnson: F
Johnson had a rough offensive game as he couldn’t buy a bucket from anywhere, including three-point range. He can have games like this where he is just not able to get anything going and when that happens, his offensive impact is limited. Johnson did not play down the stretch as some of the other bench players were simply more effective in getting the team back into the game.
Dorian Finney-Smith: Incomplete
Finney-Smith did not play well in this game and it has continued a negative trend of him not playing well on either end of the floor for the Nets. While he came into this game without any appearance on the injury report, Finney-Smith played 14 minutes in this game and ended up being questionable to return to the contest due to an illness. This will be something to monitor as Dinwiddie was questionable before this game due to an illness as well.
Nic Claxton: B-
Claxton had a solid performance in this one, but he had some trouble in this game dealing with Jarrett Allen and some of the switching that the Cavaliers were doing. Claxton did a job of scoring around the rim and while he could have gotten the ball more when he found the mismatch in the post, he did the most with the possessions that he did get. He did a good job of getting on the glass, but he could have been better with protecting the rim in this one.
Royce O'Neale: F
O’Neale had one of his worse games this season as it seems that his game was not able to take off on either end of the floor. Like some of the other veterans, he wasn’t able to impact the game on either end of the floor and looked to be off all game long.
Dennis Smith Jr.: C
Smith had a solid performance in this one as he did a good job of facilitating the offense and delivering good passes to the teammates that needed the ball. Smith did not do much of scoring on his own, but he brought some energy and competitiveness to the floor that the Nets needed to ignite a comeback in the second half of this one.
Cam Thomas: A
Thomas had a great performance in this one as he was one of the few players that could score in this one and Cleveland had few answers for him outside of doubling him off a pick. In a game where Brooklyn struggled to score in its normal offensive structure, Thomas was able to create off the dribble time and again, seemingly providing the type of dribble penetration and movement that allowed the Nets to start being productive on the offensive end of the floor. Thomas showed some real growth on the offensive end in this one as he made some nice passes, even if they did not result in assists.
Lonnie Walker IV: A
After a shaky start due to picking up two fouls in short order, Walker caught fire in this one and looked like he was never going to cool off. He did a good amount of his damage from behind the three-point line, but he was also getting to the rim for some nice finishes as well. Jacque Vaughn decided to keep Walker in the game down the stretch and thanks to what Walker was doing on both ends of the floor, Brooklyn was almost able to get back into the game and possibly steal one in Paris.
