Cam Thomas returned to a Nets team that no longer needed saving. His job was harder than that: fit in and lift it. He did exactly that Saturday night, scoring 30 points on 9-for-15 shooting with three rebounds and four assists in just 20 minutes off the bench as Brooklyn pulled away for a 123-107 road win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The win pushed the Nets to 10-19 and 7-3 over their last 10 games, a remarkable shift for a team that opened the season 0–7. If Thomas continues to embrace a super sixth-man role, should it stick, and the Nets’ young core keeps growing, Brooklyn could become more than just a rebuilding team finding its way.

Minnesota had Anthony Edwards back after he missed the previous meeting in Brooklyn, a 125–109 Timberwolves win on Nov. 3, and Brooklyn was reintegrating Thomas for the first time since Nov. 5. The result was a jittery, physical opening stretch that reflected both teams feeling each other out.

Thomas’ night officially began with 5:40 left in the first quarter and the score tied at 15. He was the first Net off the bench, but the timing wasn’t kind. Minnesota immediately rattled off a 7–0 run, forcing the 24-year-old to find his footing in real time.

It didn’t take long.

Thomas’ first basket in nearly eight weeks came not on a pull-up jumper or isolation set, but on a hard cut to the rim. Day’Ron Sharpe found him in stride, and Thomas absorbed contact to finish the layup and the free throw, trimming the deficit to four with 3:21 left in the quarter. It was a simple play, but a telling one. Thomas didn’t force the moment. He let it come to him.

With Thomas, Nolan Traore and Danny Wolf anchoring the second unit, the Nets’ pace shifted over the final minutes of the period. The ball moved faster. The floor opened up. And Thomas kept attacking downhill. He drew contact again. Then again. By the time the quarter closed, he’d already racked up three and-one plays, scoring nine points in his first six minutes back.

That burst flipped the quarter on its head. Brooklyn closed the period with energy and purpose, turning an early Minnesota push into a 33–30 Nets lead entering the second.

And the Nets’ bench kept rolling. Sharpe and Drake Powell opened the quarter with a pair of buckets, setting the tone before Thomas stepped into his first made 3-pointer of the night to cap his efficient start. Moments later, Noah Clowney rose for a dunk in transition that pushed Brooklyn’s lead to nine with 8:42 left in the half, extending a stretch where the Nets were dictating both the pace and the energy of the game.

But the momentum didn’t hold. Brooklyn’s starters stumbled late in the half, and the Timberwolves closed on an 11–4 run to slip ahead 63–62 at the break. The Nets still had plenty to like. They shot 59.1% in the first half, committed just seven turnovers, dominated the paint 46–28 and got 29 points from the bench, including 12 from Thomas. The gap came from beyond the arc, where Brooklyn went just 3-for-16 while Minnesota knocked down nine of its 16 attempts.

Michael Porter Jr. had nine points at halftime but quickly heated up after the break, scoring an and-one to give him 18 and push Brooklyn’s lead back to nine with 7:52 left in the third. When Thomas checked back in with 6:17 remaining and the Nets up six, he took over again, pouring in 12 straight points as the bench sparked a 13–6 run that kept Brooklyn in front by 12 heading into the final frame.

The margin never dipped below nine down the stretch. Brooklyn’s bench dominated 62–33, doing it without Ziaire Williams or Tyrese Martin in the rotation.

The Nets have won three straight for the first time this season and will look to keep it going Monday when the Golden State Warriors visit Barclays Center.