Nets Star Suffers Season-Ending Injury Before Celtics Clash

One of the Brooklyn Nets' best players is done for the year — just in time for a meeting with the mighty Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

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According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, shooting guard Cam Thomas has suffered a left hamstring strain. Stein reports that the Nets expect the injury to "likely" end his 2024-25 season "given the number of days remaining in the schedule and the time needed to appropriately recover."

The Nets say Cam Thomas has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain that is likely to be season-ending "given the number of days remaining in the schedule and the time needed to appropriately recover."

More NBA from me: https://t.co/IIIlAlphrN
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 15, 2025

This would be a devastating blow for Brooklyn — if the club was trying to actually win games.

But that's hardly the case.

On Saturday, the Nets will be squaring off against a 48-19 Boston Celtics club that, on paper, looks formidable. That said, it's possible that as many as four starters — and five of the team's top seven players (backup big man Al Horford could miss the bout, the second night of a back-to-back) — will sit out, making the matchup sneakily gettable for the 22-44 Nets.

Celtics Injury Report vs. Brooklyn (3/15):

J. Brown - R Knee Posterior Impingement - QUESTIONABLE
A. Horford - L Big Toe Sprain - DOUBTFUL
K. Porzingis - Illness (Non-Covid) - PROBABLE
J. Tatum - R Knee Tendinopathy - QUESTIONABLE
D. White - L Knee Contusion - DOUBTFUL
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) March 15, 2025

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Brooklyn, however, is jockeying for lottery balls as the 2025 NBA Draft looms, with injured Duke power forward Cooper Flagg and Rutgers stars Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper looking like the biggest prizes.

The Nets are hoping to avoid the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference this year.

Following a 116-110 road defeat to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, Brooklyn abetted the Bulls in further securing their grip on the No. 10 seed. Chicago improved to a 28-38 record on the year, 4.5 games clear of the 24-43 Toronto Raptors and six games ahead of Brooklyn and the Philadelphia 76ers.

All three of those squads are in a race to the bottom of the East standings. The three worst teams in the league by record will sport an identical shot at nabbing the No. 1 overall pick via the lottery this spring. It may be tough for Brooklyn to catch the 14-51 Washington Wizards (possessors of the league's worst record), but Washington has gone 5-5 across its last 10 contests and is improving at just the wrong time.

Losing Thomas, a restricted free agent this summer, could help the Nets lose some games down the season's home stretch.

In just 25 healthy games this year, the 6-foot-4 LSU product has averaged 24.0 points on .438/.349/.881 shooting splits, 3.8 dimes and 3.3 boards a night.

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For more news and notes on the Boston Celtics, visit Boston Celtics on SI.