Cam Thomas continues to be a bucket — and the Nets are going have their arms full of their first-round playoff collection in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Those are the 2 takeaways from Brooklyn’s 134-105 loss to the Sixers in Sunday’s season finale, a recreation each groups opted to relaxation their starters and key rotation gamers.
Thomas erupted for 46 factors on 16-of-29 capturing from the sector in a scintillating show of his isolation scoring talents. He grew to become the fifth participant in Nets franchise historical past with 4 or extra 40-point video games in a season, with the opposite three coming within the wake of Kyrie Irving’s midseason commerce request.
Yet the depleted Nets remained a category beneath the depleted 76ers in a foreshadowing of what’s to come back within the first spherical of the playoffs.
Philadelphia sat its whole beginning 5 — Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey and P.J. Tucker — plus sixth man De’Anthony Melton in opposition to the Nets. Head coach Jacque Vaughn performed Mikal Bridges 4 seconds to tally his 83rd recreation performed of the season, then sat him, alongside starters Nic Claxton, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Nets additionally sat reserve gamers Edmond Sumner, Royce O’Neale and Seth Curry.
It was a tactical resolution for each groups for 2 causes: First, neither aspect needed to danger harm to any playoff-rotation gamers for the reason that postseason seeding has already been decided.
And second, neither head coach needed to point out their hand. In every week’s time, these two groups will play at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. The first crew to lose 4 occasions shall be eradicated from the playoffs.
“I don’t think either team is going to put any new plays that they’ll use in a series in for sure,” Vaughn mentioned after Friday’s victory in opposition to the Orlando Magic. “We’ll be pretty bland, but we do what we do. And we’ll play hard when we get the opportunity to play them in a series. We’ll keep it that simple.”
Yet Philadelphia’s reserves ran laps round Brooklyn, constructing a 15-point lead by the tip of the primary quarter. The Nets chopped into the Sixer lead within the second quarter, however Philadelphia ran away within the second half.
The Sixers bench — their true third unit — scored 80 factors in opposition to the Nets
Thomas has change into a secret weapon of kinds for a Nets crew that has prioritized measurement, protection and free-flowing ball motion over the second-year guard’s particular person scoring prowess.
Entering Sunday’s matinee recreation, for instance, Thomas had solely appeared in 4 of Brooklyn’s earlier 10 video games. He performed extra minutes in opposition to the Sixers than he did in his three earlier video games mixed.
So when the Vaughn opted to take a seat his rotation gamers, it meant Thomas would have the ball in his arms all night time. Veteran guard Patty Mills scored 12 factors and after having his contract transformed from two-way to plain, second-year ahead David Duke Jr. got here off the bench so as to add 15 factors.
The gamers who took the court docket Sunday, nonetheless, are unlikely to see prolonged play time subsequent week.
The two rosters will look utterly completely different when the video games start to depend, and Thomas made a case for playoff minutes. A Nets crew that would use some offense may deploy their secret weapon within the playoffs.
After Sunday’s loss, the Nets may want it.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com