In his second game with the Milwaukee Bucks, Cam Thomas poured in 34 points in 25 bench minutes to will them over Orlando in a 116-108 victory Wednesday night. Doing so on an efficient 12-20 from the field, 4-6 from distance, and 6-6 at the free-throw line, he gave a desperately needed shot in the arm on a night with Ryan Rollins absent due to plantar fasciitis.
Some perspective: those 34 points were more than any Buck not named Giannis Antetokounmpo had scored all season.
Cam Thomas shows off signature scoring chops in game 2 as a Buck
Before last night, the Bucks finished with a non-Giannis leading scorer at 30 points or more seven times in 21 games.
Ryan Rollins had 32 twice. Kevin Porter Jr. put up 32 and 30. Kyle Kuzma doubled up at 31. Myles Turner had one such game.
It took Thomas two games in a Bucks jersey to top those performances with a signature night of his own. Against the Magic, no one else had more than Porter’s 18. Thomas was, in short, the reason Milwaukee won the game.
Oct 27, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) takes a three point shot past Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) in the fourth quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
The former 27th overall pick is no stranger to piling up buckets. He only played 25 games last season for the Nets but averaged a career-high 24 points and 3.8 assists per game. In 66 games in ’23-24, he contributed 22.5 points a night. He was also capably efficient, producing 44/36/86 splits over those two seasons, compared to a dismal ’25-26 in Brooklyn: 15.6 points per game at 39.9/32.5/84.3.
The Nets waived Thomas the day of the trade deadline after they failed to get a deal done. The Bucks were happy to take a flyer on him and, at the risk of overreaction, it seems fair to say it’s paid off in the early going.
They’ll see what he can do as an encore Thursday evening against the Thunder on the final day of pre-All-Star break action.
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