Nets’ Cam Thomas says ‘it’s still early’ in his rehab process

Neither the Nets nor injured Cam Thomas have offered any timetable for his return.

But speaking publicly for the first time since hurting his hamstring, Thomas acknowledged he’s still in the beginning stages of the rehab process.

“I’m just doing whatever the performance team has me doing. It’s still early,” Thomas said. “I’m just doing whatever they have me doing, just a little bit here and there. But it’s all right.”

Thomas missed his fifth straight game Wednesday, a 99-90 win over Indiana, with a strained left hamstring he suffered in the Nov. 25 win at Golden State.

The Nets have been coy about the severity of the strain.

What is clear is that Thomas will benefit from this light portion of the slate, with Sunday versus the Bucks and Friday at Memphis the only games until Dec. 16.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a positive, but it was definitely something not bad about the injury because you’re not missing 15-20 games during this stretch,” Thomas said. “I want to be out there every game. Just being out now really sucks. But just got to rehab the best way I can to get back on the court as fast as possible.”

Thomas addressed being left off ESPN’s Top 25 under 25, insisting he didn’t care.

“If anybody’s watching, they know,” said Thomas. “If you look at the numbers and what I do against everybody I play against, there’s no debate or discussion … I don’t really care about this as long as your peers know you’re one of the best players.”

Cam Johnson (left ankle sprain) and Ben Simmons (left knee soreness) both played after missing Monday’s loss to the Bulls.

Johnson had 26 points on 7-for–13 from deep, the most points scored by a Net in a game without making a two-point field goal in franchise history.

“It was not international,” Johnson quipped.

Simmons played 21 minutes and finished with seven points, seven rebounds and nine assists.

Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle sprain) and Ziaire Williams (knee) were both out.

“[Finney-Smith] is very close and what we want for him is when he’s ready to come back and be on the court, it’s to do it 200 percent. Because the reality is he doesn’t have another way to play,” coach Jordi Fernandez said. “Even if he’s not feeling great, he’s still gonna tell me he’s good to go. I’ve got to save him from himself at times. … So we wanna get to that point where he’s not playing through discomfort.”

The Nets expect to have an update on Williams after the weekend.

Wednesday marked Brooklyn’s ninth straight game with a new starting lineup, the longest streak in team history and longest for any team this season.

The Nets had games added at Memphis at 8 p.m. on Dec. 13, and against the visiting Cavaliers at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 16.

For the first time this season the Nets had three players with a plus/minus of +20: Day’Ron Sharpe +22, Shake Milton +21 and Simmons +20, all season highs.

“Analytics people will tell you not to trust plus-minuses, but I only use it as a positive, so I love it,” Fernandez said. “It tells you those guys had a big, positive impact in the game.”