Cam Thomas didn’t need a full workload Friday to give the Nets a scoring punch.
Playing in his first game in nearly two months due to a left hamstring strain, Thomas tied for the team lead with 16 points in 21 minutes in Brooklyn’s 121-102 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Barclays Center.
Thomas returned to the starting lineup and scored Brooklyn’s first points, coming off of a screen to sink a running floater from inside the free-throw line on the Nets’ second possession.
His shot attempts became progressively more difficult in the second quarter, when he made a driving lay-up and a contested step-back on consecutive possessions to begin the period.
He later drilled a fadeaway jumper from the baseline over the outstretched arm of 7-2 rookie Donovan Clingan for his most challenging basket of the night.
There was likely some rust, as Thomas shot 7-of-17, including 0-for-4 on 3-point attempts, and committed three turnovers, including a travel on the Nets’ very first possession.
But Thomas’ tough shot-making offered an instant reminder of what Brooklyn (21-38) had missed during his 24-game absence, even if the Nets faltered defensively against the Blazers (27-33) as they suffered their third loss in a row.
Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said before the game that he would be “careful and cautious” with Thomas in his return, and that ramping the guard back up to “real minutes” would take some time.
Thomas, 23, played only nine and a half minutes in the first half and did not play more than seven minutes in any quarter. He spent the game’s final 7:21 on the bench with the Nets trailing by double digits.
Now in his fourth season, Thomas entered Friday averaging a career-high 24.7 points on 44.8% shooting in 32.3 minutes per game.
But Friday marked only the 20th appearance of the season for Thomas, who first injured his left hamstring in a Nov. 25 win at Golden State.
Thomas returned a little over a month later and came off the bench on Dec. 29 in Orlando and on Jan. 2 in Milwaukee. He was shut down from there with another left hamstring injury, keeping him out until Friday’s return.
Between those extended absences, Thomas missed 38 of 40 games.
Entering Friday, the Nets had averaged 110.9 points per game with Thomas in the lineup, compared to 102.2 points per game without him.
They were averaging 103.2 points per game in February, marking the third month in a row that they ranked 29th or last in the NBA in scoring.
“He’s a weapon and he’s capable of scoring in bunches,” Fernandez said of Thomas. “Even if they double team him, then with the proper spacing, you can get a good shot.”
The Nets had won seven of their last 11 games before Friday’s, a stretch in which their defensive rating of 107.8 was the third best in the NBA.
They hope the re-acclimation of Thomas can provide a much-needed boost on offense as they fight for a spot in the Play-In Tournament.