Cam Thomas and Trendon Watford were ruled out of Brooklyn’s road matchup against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. Both are managing left hamstring injuries.
Thomas returned from a 24-game absence in Friday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and finished with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting with one assist and three turnovers in 21 minutes.
“Decent first game back,” Thomas said. “Obviously missed some shots that I normally make when I’m in rhythm and playing, but that’s just the nature of being off for a while and coming back and playing in your first game. So, shots I’m not really worried about. Those are going to come. Feels good to finally finish a game and not have any pain. So, that’s the main thing I’m pleased with.”
Watford, who has stepped up as a primary ball handler since Ben Simmons was bought out, has averaged 11.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists over his past eight games off the bench while shooting 48.6% from the field 30.8% from deep. He was a double figure scorer in six of those eight appearances.
Saturday’s game was the Nets’ second in a back-to-back set. D’Angelo Russell (right ankle sprain) and Noah Clowney (left ankle sprain) remained out against Detroit, while Tosan Evbuomwan remained on G League assignment. That left Brooklyn severely undermanned against one of the hottest teams in the league.
The Pistons were the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference entering Saturday’s game and won eight straight before Friday’s 134-119 loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Nets, in 11th place at 21-38, have lost four of five since the All-Star break.
“I have to be better,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said following Friday’s loss. “I have to help them better. It’s not the first time we haven’t shown up at the beginning, then we wake up a little bit and it’s not good enough. So, this is not who we want to be and we’re building our identity… Winning starts now, and this is not the way.”