CLEVELAND – – Cam Thomas scored 29 points in 31 minutes, Mikal Bridges had 25 points and the Brooklyn Nets pulled away to beat the injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers 120-101 on Sunday night.
Dennis Schroder added 17 points and eight assists, and Nic Claxton had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Brooklyn, which built a 26-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Nets only trailed for 1:41 in the game, all of that early in the third period.
“This game I had to step out of my comfort zone and motivate the team and set an example for the guys,” said Thomas, who also had seven rebounds and five assists. “Cleveland always tries to take out the midrange a little bit, but with certain lineups I can be a little more aggressive.”
Georges Niang scored 20 points and Jarrett Allen had 15 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland, which fell a half-game behind Milwaukee in third place in the Eastern Conference. Darius Garland had 14 points and five assists.
“We never really got out of the mud,” Niang said. “We never really seemed to get there tonight.”
Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell missed his sixth straight game with left knee soreness, but returned to work on the court earlier in the day. The five-time All-Star is the fifth-leading scorer in the NBA at 28.0 points per game.
Cleveland was also without two additional starters, forwards Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain) and Max Strus (right knee sprain), as well as senior backup Dean Wade (personal reasons).
“Our guys competed and I’m proud of them, but at some point you run out of gas,” Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff said. “The third quarter kind of broke our backs.”
The Cavaliers took their first lead at 53-52 on Isaac Okoro’s layup to open the second half, but the Nets responded with a 44-27 run behind 11 points each from Thomas and Bridges. Thomas and Schroder each made 40-footers during the push.
“Cam showed everything tonight, it wasn’t just his scoring, he contributed in other ways,” Brooklyn interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “We want him to be a masterpiece on offense and a masterpiece on defense. Just his tenacity, his resilience, it means the world to us.
The Nets are 1-2 on a six-game road trip that ends March 17 against San Antonio in Austin, Texas. Brooklyn will play just one home game between March 7 and 27 – March 19 against New Orleans – and is 3 1/2 games out of last place in the play-in tournament.
“If we want to make the play-in, we just have to,” Thomas said. “That’s all we can say about it. I’m tired of talking about energy after games.
Nets guard Lonnie Walker IV had four points after missing Saturday in Charlotte due to illness, but forward Cam Johnson missed his third straight game with a sprained right ankle. Ollie said Johnson was considered on a daily basis.
FOLLOWING
Nets: At Orlando on Wednesday night.
Cavaliers: Host Phoenix Monday night.
——
APNBA:
