Nets' Cam Thomas: Claims third straight 40-point game

Thomas ended Tuesday's 116-112 loss to the Suns with 43 points (11-23 FG, 3-9 3Pt, 18-20 FT), five rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal in 39 minutes.

After emerging from obscurity to put up 44 points in Saturday's win over the Wizards before raising the bar with a career-high 47 points in Monday's loss to the Clippers, Thomas kept his run of red-hot scoring going in the second half of the back-to-back set. He was running hot early and finished with 24 first-half points, but the Suns contained him for the most part in the second half. Thomas ended up leading a late flurry for the Nets late in the contest, drilling nine free throws and hitting a couple of two-point buckets in the final 1:30 to get him to 43 points. In so doing, the 21-year-old became the youngest player in league history to score 40-plus points in three straight games, but his playing time and usage will almost certainly take a significant hit once Brooklyn adds trade-deadline acquisition Spencer Dinwiddie to the mix and when Kevin Durant (knee) likely returns shortly after the All-Star break.