Having mastered the art of bucket-getting with enough counters and creativity to fill a cookbook, it was quite poetic that Cam Thomas’ final rebuttal to the Chicago Bulls’ catch-up attempt came through an end-of-shot-clock hot potato. Prepared to offer a late-game heat check against a defense that had already been metaphorically baked, mashed, fried, and hashed, Thomas — stationed at the Brooklyn Nets’ midcourt logo — surveys his options with Patrick Williams defending. Calm and collected after a rigorous offseason of working on said shots, Thomas, with both the play clock and game clock quickly draining, elevates into a courageous, contested 33-footer, extending both his range and Brooklyn's lead to nine. Thomas’ heroics proved to be a steady presence during a see-saw Eastern Conference affair that featured both 10 lead changes and a completely-erased 17-point first half lead for Brooklyn. Groundbreaking enough in his light-up-the-scoreboard abilities to score at a point-per-minute rate, Brooklyn’s star concluded with 32 points in 32 minutes (on 11-of-23 shooting), alongside four assists, one steal, and four 3-pointers on November 1, 2024. · Nov 1, 2024