Brooklyn’s longest winning streak of the season ended with its most impressive victory of the year. And it’s not even close.
The Nets’ 123-107 laughout of Minnesota wasn’t just a road victory. It was a statement against one of the league’s best teams and one of its top players.
On a night when their shots didn’t fall and their powers didn’t work? They rode a great night from Cam Thomas – returning from injury – a dominant performance off the bench and a rare finish at the rim.
“We played very well and we won here,” Thomas said. “That’s even better for me.”
The Nets (10-19) got a game-high 30 points from Thomas in his first game since Nov. 5. Their bench outscored Minnesota’s 62-33, and their 66 points in the paint were a season high. In short, it didn’t look lame. It looked complete.
“We just connected,” said Nic Claxton, who had 14 points and six rebounds. “It was a really good win to get here. Minnesota is one of the best teams in the West; to come here on their turf and win, we just connected on both ends and made timely shots, especially toward the end of the game. So this is a great win.”
It marked a third straight win for the Nets, and their seventh in the last ten games.
That gives the Nets the NBA’s fifth-best record this month, and the top-ranked defense. They are allowing just 103.1 points on 44.0 percent shooting after holding Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves to 44.6 percent.
Michael Porter Jr. added 27 points and 10 boards and went 4-for-8 from deep.
“If you let Mike play the level he’s playing right now, throw a Cam Thomas in the crease, and you let us defend the way we do, we’ll be extremely [tough]Claxton said. “We’re going to be an extremely difficult team to beat every night. We’re going to compete, because those are two extremely gifted scores. And we have shooters in the area. We got me, Day’Ron [Sharpe] on the edge. So we have a lot of different options, a lot to build on.”
The Timberwolves (20-12) might agree. They had won 10 of 13 and had Edwards despite being listed as doubtful due to a shoulder injury.
The Minnesota star had 28 points, but the Nets made him work.
Brooklyn clung to an 85-80 lead on an Edwards bank shot and went on a 19-6 run spanning the third and fourth to blow open the scoring.
Danny Wolf closed out the point to make it 104-86 with 10:35 to play.
Porter’s dagger 3-pointer made it 123-102 with 1:17 left.
The rest of the Nets were just 7-for-32 from deep. But because they couldn’t rely on the long ball, they enjoyed the rim and shot 54.8 percent overall against a top-5 field goal defense.
“It’s not always going to be perfect or the same way, but you can always find a way, and a way in different ways. I like to see that efficiency at the edge,” said coach Jordi Fernández, who turned 43 on Saturday. “It was a good experience because we played against a very, very good team, a very well-coached team with top-level players and experienced players. It’s very meaningful to do it on the road… for our growth.”
“It was our best game in the paint. We’ve struggled to finish at the rim all year, and we didn’t see the ball go in much. I know we made 11 3s, but shot 27 percent, and shot 40. They’re a really good defensive team. Sometimes you have to win in different ways, right? The shot didn’t go in, but we still played the right way and moved the ball, touched the paint, and we were able to score at the rim.” edge. So very good to see that improvement.
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