Brooklyn’s longest winning streak of the season was capped by its most impressive victory of the year. And it’s not even close.
The Nets’ 123-107 laugher in Minnesota wasn’t just a road win. It was a statement against one of the league’s best teams and one of its top players.
On a night when their shots weren’t falling and their strengths weren’t working? They rode a huge night from Cam Thomas — returning from injury — a dominant performance from the bench and some rare finishing at the rim.
“We played really well, we got a win out of this,” 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 flukish. It looked complete.
“We were just connected,” said Nic Claxton, who had 14 points and six rebounds. “It was a really good win to come here. Minnesota is one of the best teams in the West; to come here on their turf and get a win, we were just connected on both sides, and we made timely shots, especially towards the end of the game. So this is a great win.”
It marked a season-high third straight win for the Nets, and their seventh in the past 10 games.
That gives the Nets the NBA’s fifth-best record this month, and the top-ranked defense. They’re allowing just 103.1 points and 44.0 percent shooting, after holding Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves to 44.6 percent.
Michael Porter Jr. added 27 points and 10 boards, hitting 4-of-8 from deep.
“When you’ve got Mike playing the level he’s playing out right now, throwing a Cam Thomas in the fold, and you have us defending the way that we are, we’re extremely [tough],” Claxton said. “We’re going to be an extremely tough team to beat every night. We’re gonna compete, because those are two extremely gifted scores. And we’ve got shooters around. We’ve got me, Day’Ron [Sharpe] at the rim. So we’ve got a lot of different options, a lot to build off of.”
The Timberwolves (20-12) might agree. They’d won 10 of 13 and had Edwards despite being listed as questionable with a shoulder injury.
The Minnesota star had 28 points, but the Nets made him work.
Clinging to an 85-80 edge after an Edwards bank shot, Brooklyn reeled off a 19-6 run that spanned the third and fourth to blow it open.
Danny Wolf capped the run to make it 104-86 with 10:35 to play.
Porter’s dagger 3-pointer padded it to 123-102 with 1:17 left.
The rest of the Nets were just 7-for-32 from deep. But unable to rely on the long ball, they actually feasted at the rim and shot 54.8 percent overall against a top 5 field goal defense.
“It’s not going to always be perfect or the same way, but you always can find a way, and find a way in different ways. I like to see that efficiency on the rim,” said coach Jordi Fernández, who turned 43 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. To do it on the road is very meaningful … for our growth.
“It was our best game in the paint. We’ve struggled the whole year finishing at the rim, and we didn’t see the ball go in a lot — I know we made 11 3s, but shooting 27 percent, shot 40 of them — they’re a very good defensive team. Sometimes you’ve got 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. So very good to see that improvement.”
