PHILADELPHIA — Is it time to free second-year scorer Cam Thomas? Facing an 0-2 deficit in the Nets’ first-round playoff series against the 76ers, Jacque Vaughn says it’s on the table for Game 3 at Barclays Center on Thursday.
Vaughn, however, doesn’t appear sure minutes are necessary for Thomas. He was pleased with the overall flow of the offense in Brooklyn’s 96-84 loss at the Wells Fargo Center in Game 2.
His biggest takeaway was the team generated quality three-point looks and simply failed to knock them down. The Nets shot 13-of-42 from downtown, but players not named Cam Johnson — who scored a playoff career-high 28 points and on 5-of-11 shooting from behind the arc — connected on threes at just a 8-of-31 shooting clip.
Many of those missed shots were wide-open looks.
“I just thought that if we felt like we were struggling to get looks, maybe that could be an answer,” the head coach said postgame when asked if he gave any thought to giving Thomas minutes in Game 2. “But I thought we got looks, I thought they were makable shots, and so is Cam on the back of my brain? Yes. And he knows that. Could he play when we get back to Brooklyn? Yes. But I didn’t think we were struggling to get looks, the ball just didn’t go in.”
Thomas’ minutes may be the risk Vaughn needs to take to salvage this series. Of teams who go up 2-0 in a first-round playoff series 93% advance to the second round.
Thomas has already proven capable of scoring, something the Nets need after only generating 84 points in Game 2, the fewest number of points Brooklyn has scored all season.
Thomas tallied four 40-point games in the final two-plus months of the regular season. He put up three straight 40-point games while Kyrie Irving was away from the team, sorting out his trade request in Brooklyn, then hung 46 points on — coincidentally — the 76ers in the regular-season finale, a game neither team played their starters or key rotation players.
And after Vaughn begged postgame for someone on his team to step up and provide a scoring punch, Thomas could be the answer the team needs.
Royce O’Neale played 36 minutes off the bench in Game 2 but shot just two-of-nine from downtown for six points. Seth Curry scored nine points on three-of-eight shooting from the field, and Joe Harris missed both of his three-point attempts in 13 minutes off the bench.
Harris is shooting just one-of-five from downtown in his first two playoff games this season. His legendary regular-season three-point shooting efficiency historically plummets in the playoffs.
Not to mention starting point guard Spencer Dinwiddie has tallied just 26 points on 10-of-26 shooting from the field and two-of-eight shooting from downtown in Brooklyn’s first two playoff games combined.
“I think overall, his ability to get downhill we want more from him,” Vaughn said of Dinwiddie. “He understands that; he’s got to continue to push the pace for us. He’s huge for us, and he knows it.”
Vaughn has historically been averse to playing Thomas in high-pressure games.
He believes there are shortcomings to Thomas’ game that negate his superior scoring ability. After Thomas scored 40-plus points three times in a row, he was quick to point out the Nets lost two of those games and nearly lost to the Wizards.
Vaughn doubled down on that sentiment after the season finale: The Nets lost by 29 to a Sixers team whose third unit scored 80 points off the bench. Thomas scored 46 points in 43 minutes, but the Nets were outscored by 20 in his time on the floor.
“I wish the score was 134 Brooklyn Nets, 105 Philadelphia. I think that part helps,” Vaughn said after the April 9 loss. “The goal is you win as a team. So 46 points is great but we end up losing by 30. So you’ve got to attach those together. How do you marry the 29 shots to being a productive teammate where you might not get that amount of shots in a typical game? That’s the question. So can you harness and take that ability and be able to do it in the shorter amount of time? In a more efficient time? And in a setting that it benefits the entire team? That’s the challenge.”
The Nets are still losing games with their most gifted scorer glued to the bench. Thomas played in four garbage-time minutes in Game 1 and missed his only shot attempt with the Nets down big.
With the Nets staring an 0-2 deficit in the face on the way back to Brooklyn, Vaughn will need to pull a rabbit out his back pocket if his team is going to defy the odds against a Sixers team with championship aspirations.
That rabbit could be Thomas. Vaughn will take anyone who will step up and hit shots.
“We’re looking for anybody [to step up],” Vaughn said. “I think C.J. has the ability to do this performance over and over again. That much trust and belief in his ability, man it makes me smile thinking about what his game is right now and what it’s going to become.
“Do we need some other people to step up at home? I’ll take all of them. Anyone you want to sign up, put them on a list, I’ll check that thing off. We need everybody to show up and be ready to play.”
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