PORTLAND, Ore. — A week after the Nets traded for him, Marcus Thornton finally made his debut Wednesday night against the Blazers.
Though much of it came in garbage time in the second half of the Nets’ 124-80 blowout loss to Portland, Thornton did show the Nets he’s capable of scoring points quickly.
“He has to be himself,” Nets coach Jason Kidd said before the game. “Being able to put the ball in the basket, we all know he can do that. We’re going to ask him to defend a little bit. … Unfortunately he’s been sick, but he got a chance to practice yesterday so hopefully we can build on that.”
Thornton finished with nine points, all of which came after halftime. He could see an increased role because of the continuing struggles of Alan Anderson, who is 9-for-32 from 3-point range in February after going 0-for-2 from deep against the Blazers.
Thornton’s debut came a week after the Nets traded for him because of an odd set of circumstances.
First, he had to sit out of last Friday’s practice in San Francisco because of a delay in Reggie Evans and Jason Terry — the players traded to the Kings for him — getting their physicals. He then missed games at the Warriors and Lakers on Saturday and Sunday because of a bad case of food poisoning after eating lobster macaroni and cheese.
In his second game with the Nets, Jason Collins, the first openly gay player in major American sports, received a few more minutes against the Blazers. After sitting for the first three quarters, Collins came in to begin the fourth and played just over seven minutes, with his lone contribution on the stat line being one shot attempt that got blocked.
“Game action is game action,” Collins said afterward. “But tonight, Portland attacked from the start, and it was hard to try to get back into the game.”
Collins’ 10-day contract expires early next week, but the Nets are all but certain to keep him for the rest of the season.