The Nets’ star guard is one step closer to a return to the Barclays Center court.
Cam Thomas will get an MRI on his left hamstring at the end of the week and an update soon will follow, head coach Jordi Fernández said prior to Monday’s 116-103 victory over the Hornets for the first Nets home win of the season.
“He’s getting an MRI at the end of the week, and then when we get the reads [on it], then we’ll give you guys an update. We’ll let you know when that happens,” Fernández said.
Thomas, 24, was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain Nov. 7 and was set to be reevaluated in approximately three to four weeks.
Friday will mark four weeks.
It’s the fifth-year guard’s second lengthy absence due to a hamstring injury — and it’s the same hamstring he injured on three occasions last season, when he was limited to just 25 games.
Thomas, who is in a contract year and becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2026, suffered the injury during the first quarter of the first win of the season, against the Pacers, when he went scoreless in six minutes of action.
In just eight games, Thomas was averaging 21.4 points and 2.6 assists on 35.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc, but a career-worst 40.2 percent from the field.
Michael Porter Jr.’s season-high 35 points marked his 24th career 30-point game.
It was his sixth of the season, which ties his most 30-point games in any season (2020-21 with the Nuggets).
With his 15th point of the night, he also became one of five active NBA players with at least 6,000 points and a career 3-point percentage over 40 percent.
He joined Stephen Curry, Doug McDermott, Klay Thompson and Norman Powell.
Porter credited much of his offensive success to Fernández’s scheming.
“He’s a genius in terms of the schemes that he puts out, especially offensively for me,” he said. “The way teams are guarding me and really just face guarding me and trying not to let me catch the ball. The different creative ways that Jordi has our team running plays to help me get touches and get looks off is really next level. He is making it so easy for me to play my game. … The coaching staff is doing a great job putting me in position to succeed, so I’m very, very appreciative of that.”
The Nets tallied a season-high 33 assists against Charlotte with five players (Porter, Noah Clowney, Nic Claxton, Drake Powell and Egor Dëmin) each having at least four.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
