The Brooklyn Nets entered Sunday's New York Knicks contest looking for vengeance. Brooklyn had taken a crushing 124-122 loss in Friday's night first crosstown matchup. The Nets fought hard again but suffered a 114-104 defeat. Cameron Johnson continued his promising scoring run despite early challenges, and his play helped give Brooklyn a promising takeaway.
Johnson started the game slow with his first couple of three-pointers off the mark. Furthermore, Karl-Anthony Towns got a little rough with Johnson during a rebounding battle, committing a flagrant 1 foul on the forward. Yet, Johnson responded.
The seventh-year forward finished the game with a team-high 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, and shot 58.3 percent (7-for-12) from the floor and 54.5 percent (4-for-7) on his three-pointers. Johnson helped the Nets stay in the game on a night where Cam Thomas was not as hot as the previous matchup.
Thomas scored a season-high 43 points in Brooklyn's NBA Cup loss to the Knicks on Friday and amassed just 16 points on Sunday.
On a team with many young players, Cam Johnson continues to be a reliable presence, and the resilience he showed on Sunday is a positive sign that keeps growing for the Nets.
Johnson further proved Nets have reliable options outside of Thomas
Part of the reason the Nets' 2024-25 season expectations were up in the air is because outside of Cam Thomas, the team did not seem to have a clear second star. Ben Simmons would have been looked at as another go-to guy, but his lack of offensive asertivness has proved otherwise.
The next likely candidate would be sixth-center Nic Claxton. Like Thomas, Claxton has shown promising development and is a fringe All-Defensive player. Signs pointed toward Claxton taking a greater jump, but early-season injury woes have gotten in the way.
Of course, the Nets knew they would get a reliable scorer in Cam Johnson, but he is experiencing a never-seen-before high. Through his first 14 games of 2024-25, Johnson is averaging a career-high 16.9 points per game and a personal best 90.4 percent shooting at the free throw line. Furthermore, he shoots his deep-range shots with 38.1 percent accuracy.
Johnson has arguably emerged as Brooklyn's second-best player early on, although his future in the borough is uncertain. The Nets could trade Johnson away amid their focus on acquiring and developing younger talent. But for now, Johnson looks to continue giving his best effort to help Brooklyn take the next step in their Eastern Conference climb.