At the Nets shootaround ahead of their home game against the Bulls, Nic Claxton said he believed his team could continue to “surprise” opponents.
What was not surprising on Friday night at Barclays Center was watching the Nets blow a lead that was as large as 17 points.
Nevertheless, they were saved by Cam Thomas, the only hot-shooting Nets starter, who scored 32 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, to lead the Nets to a 120-112 victory over the Bulls.
The final quarter saw plenty of lead changes — there were 10, plus eight ties throughout the game — but after Thomas’ two free throws gave the Nets a 110-107 lead, things started to roll in the final two minutes for the Nets, who held the Bulls to 22 points in the quarter.
The Nets shooting guard went on to score a layup and two 3-pointers to change the momentum inside Barclays Center.
Cam Johnson, who finished with 14 points on the night, later sprinted to the other end of the court after a defensive board for a big dunk to earn a comfortable 120-109 lead down to the final buzzer.
It was the Nets first back-to-back win this season and their third victory of the year.
“Just take over the game, try to win the game,” Thomas said about the mindset in the final minutes. “Just credit to the coaches and my teammates for always trusting me to take us home in that situation. So, you know, it’s a credit to them. So I just try to do my best to close the game out and get us to win every time. You know, just as credit to the coaches, teammates.”
One of Thomas’ 3-pointers came in a logo-deep dagger from 33 feet, which is a shot he explained he has practiced in the offseason for close out moments.
“I always work on stuff like that in the offseason. You never know when it might pop up,” Thomas said. “For example, tonight, it popped up, shot clock running down. Felt like it was the best shot I could get. So, that’s just some of the crazy shots I’m working on in the offseason. So, just happy it went in for sure, because it was kind of like the dagger in a way. So, it’s good.”
The Nets led by just two to start the fourth quarter and fell behind 93-92 off a 3-pointer from Chicago’s Coby White.
But Ziaire Williams, who didn’t score until the final quarter, came away with three consecutive baskets for the Nets to regain the lead 100-98 with eight minutes left.
The Nets’ other quiet core contributors, Dennis Schroder and Claxton, remained that way in the final quarter, including a missed lob between the two and one missed, bad layup attempt from Schroder.
Schroder only had nine points on the night after scoring 33 points just a game before. Claxton added 12 off the bench after missing the previous game, resting the hamstring he injured in preseason. Ben Simmons also only had eight points, but tallied a season-high 11 assists on the night.
The Bulls trimmed that 17-point Nets lead in the second quarter to just eight at the half, and continued to chip away in the third quarter, with a 6-0 run from Nikola Vucevic.
The two-time All-Star center continued to be a thorn in the Nets’ side, scoring 14 of his 28 points in the quarter that did well against the Nets’ brutal 34 shooting percentage that dipped down from as high as 61 percent in the second quarter.
On a quiet night from the Nets’ key players aside from Thomas, it showed Fernandez the versatile group that he has and one that will pick up the slack when others aren’t clicking.
“He [Thomas] made a crazy shot from almost half-court. And I can’t coach that. That’s him being him. So I think our defense as a unit helped us, and then CT put right there, three, four plays together. And it was amazing. So the other day was Dennis, today CT, so that’s again, what good units do. It’s not about you, it’s about the group, and we got it done.”