NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has been through a lot in his second season in the NBA. Despite having to deal with inconsistent playing time and with the buzz that comes with being a teammate of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Thomas has remained mentally strong enough to be ready for his time and he took advantage of it.

“Yeah, that was kind of my mindset coming in,” Thomas said after scoring a career-high 44 points in Saturday’s 125-123 win over the Washington Wizards. “But I think towards when I got in in the third quarter, I knew I had to turn up. So, we were still down, Ed (Edmond Sumner) came out and played real well to start the quarter. But you know, we was still down, so I know how to come in turn up a notch. So we get the win.”

Before Saturday, Thomas’ next highest-scoring performance was when he had 33 points against the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 10. In most instances, when Thomas has gotten the playing time, he has delivered for Brooklyn. However, not only did he have to overcome the inconsistent playing time, he also had to overcome his big brother Irving possibly being gone.

“Yeah, of course, everybody was surprised,” Thomas said in response to being asked his reaction when Irving’s trade request became public on Friday. “But, it’s not my business. That’s still my brother at the end of the day. He’s one of the few guys who I really consider a brother in basketball. Just a big brother who I could look up to and ask anything to so, whatever happens happens, that’s still my brother, no matter what, at the end of the day.”

According to the Brooklyn Nets PR staff, Thomas joins Stephon Marbury as the only players in franchise history to score 40 points in fewer than 30 minutes. Thomas is also one of only eight players in NBA history to score at least 44 points in 29 or fewer minutes.