LAS VEGAS — When Brooklyn drafted Cameron Thomas, he was billed as instant offense, a volume scorer with so-so efficiency and iffy shot selection.
He was as advertised. And then some.
Thomas struggled mightily in the first half of Monday’s Las Vegas Summer League opener, as the Nets fell behind by 16. But found his touch in the second half to lead a comeback that fell just short, 91-84 against Memphis.
After shooting just 1 of 7 in the first half, Thomas finished with a team-high 17 points. The Nets’ other first-round pick Day’Ron Sharpe looked the part physically, the big center finishing with six points, eight rebounds and a team-high plus-15. Quinndary Weatherspoon had 15.
But the Nets started off sloppy and dug too deep a hole to crawl out of.
Brooklyn got torched by Desmond Bane for a game-high 32 points, while Killian Tillie added another 20. The Nets fell behind by 16 in the second quarter, and shot just 31.3 percent in a muddled first half, including 3 of 10 from 3-point range.
Unsurprisingly, Alize Johnson led the way early. He’s got three years of NBA experience — including a 20-point, 21-board eruption this past season with Brooklyn — and that benefitted him Monday.
Reggie Perry, the Nets’ other roster player, had a team-high 11 boards but just six points. And even more conspicuous is the fact that Nic Claxton wasn’t in Las Vegas at all. He’s only logged 47 NBA appearances through his first two campaigns, and might have benefitted from playing summer league.
But assistant Jordan Ott, who is serving as head coach here, said that was a call made by general manager Sean Marks after speaking with both head coach Steve Nash, Claxton and the young big man’s camp.
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“Some of that stuff is all Sean, the front office. Steve [Nash] goes into it,” Ott told The Post. “You know, 14 guys, we’re happy. Whatever 14 guys we’ve got, we try to make them the best we can, get them better this week. We’re excited with who we have here.
“Nic’s been in the gym. Nic’s been working, he’s been with us this whole time. I think that was just a discussion, collaborative discussion between him, his people, our people, and they felt the best was don’t play summer league.”
Brooklyn trailed 42-26 with 2:02 left in the half after a Bane free throw. It was down 43-33 going into the locker room.
But the Nets found their footing in the third quarter and got within a deuce to end the period at 61-59.
Down 65-63 after a Sean McDermott layup, Brooklyn took the lead with six unanswered points. A Jordan Bowden 3, followed by a driving Thomas three-point play with 8:07 left put them ahead by four.
But the Nets couldn’t hold that cushion. After a Thomas 3 put them up 77-76 with 3:27 left, they yielded a 14-4 run.