Doubting Thomas call
Cam’s absence on critical play raises questions
A Day’Ron Sharpe slam off a sweet dish from Dennis Schröder gave the Nets a 10-point lead with 6:27 left in regulation during Sunday’s game against the Spurs in Austin. The Nets ultimately surrendered their double-digit advantage en route to their fourth overtime loss of the season, but they did have one last chance to tie the game with 20.6 seconds remaining in the extra session.
That is where things got a little controversial.
With the game on the line, interim coach Kevin Ollie went with a lineup of Schröder, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton. The problem with that group was that Cam Thomas — who scored a team-high 31 points on 52% shooting — was subbed out of the game with 25.4 seconds left and was on the bench for the most important possession of the night.
The game-tying attempt began with an inbounds pass from Schröder to Finney-Smith. The forward wasted little time getting the ball back to Schröder, who found Cam Johnson curling off a Claxton screen on the left wing. Johnson, who finished 1-of5 from 3-point range, missed. The Nets shot just 8-of-31 from deep as a team in the loss.
“Yeah, I liked that play,” Ollie said. “We wanted Doe to flash to the ball and set a screen for Cam (Johnson) or Mikal and we got a good look. I trust that shot with CJ taking that shot at the end of the game to tie the game and sending it to a double overtime.”
A strong argument can be made that Thomas should have been on the court in that situation, even though he went 1-of-5 from 3-point range himself and did most of his damage against the Spurs from inside the arc. Regardless, he was the Nets’ most successful scorer Sunday night, and the ball probably should have been in his hands, even if it were as a decoy to draw additional defenders and get a better look for someone else.
When asked about why Thomas was not in the game on that final possession of overtime, Ollie did not give much of an explanation.
“That’s definitely something that we’ll look at going down the stretch again,” Ollie said. “Would have loved to have CT in there. I’ll take that one.”
Thomas said Ollie’s decision was in the best interest of the team.
“I guess they felt it was the best lineup to get a 3 off,” Thomas said. “It was a good look, he just missed it… It is what it is. If he made it, we wouldn’t be here talking about whether I was in the game.”
While Ollie’s decision was certainly questionable, the Nets’ loss on Sunday did not come down to one play. They blew a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. They could not contain rookie center Victor Wembanyama, who finished with 33 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and seven blocks. They allowed a 10-0 run in overtime and ultimately could not get stops when they desperately needed to.
“They’re disappointed. They want to win,” Ollie said. “They gave it all they had out there but we’re not making excuses. We have to come back home, regroup, have a day off and then we got a hell of a team coming in at us, the New Orleans Pelicans, that’s well coached and has players that are going to give us things we really have to lock in on defense. But if we play with that heart, we’re going to give ourselves a chance to win.”