Nets' Head Coach Cautious About Cam Thomas' Minutes Upon Return

Friday night marked the end of February for the Brooklyn Nets, a month in which they managed to turn their season around. They put themselves in a prime spot for one of the Play-In Tournament spots, sitting only a game and a half back from the Chicago Bulls entering their match against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Against Portland, Brooklyn was set to receive a massive boost as their leading scorer Cam Thomas returned after a nearly two-month absence due to a strained left hamstring, with his prior stint coming after the same injury earlier on in the season.

Given the history of his hamstring issues this season, and the lengthy process in which Thomas took to get back to full health, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez explaining that their leading scorer wouldn't receive a full load of play time right off of the bat to ensure a safe transition back to playing.

"To get to the real minutes, per se, it’s not gonna happen right away, because we have to be careful and cautious..." said Fernandez prior to Friday night's action. "But we’re ready for him to perform with the minutes he can play right now.”

Against the Trail Blazers, Thomas would appear in the starting lineup, sharing the backcourt with recent 10-day signee Killian Hayes, with the partnership struggling to kick the ball around, only managing to combine for five assists.

Individually, the former LSU star dropped 16 points, the joint-highest total on the Nets, doing so on 41 percent accuracy from the field, while struggling from beyond the arc, failing to convert on all four of his attempts.

Thomas received the most shot attempts on the Nets by far, taking 17 shots, which is something that shouldn't come as a surprise given the absence of D'Angelo Russell, who has been out due to a right ankle sprain that he suffered against the Cleveland Cavaliers in mid-February.

As the game started to come to a close, Fernandez pulled Thomas off the court mid-way through the fourth quarter, bringing his night to an end after spending 21 minutes on the court.

Given the Nets' match on Friday night was the first half of a back-to-back, it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone to see Fernandez pull his stars in order to make sure they're ready for the Detroit Pistons.

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