CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Cam Thomas scored 33 points, his third straight 30-point game to start the season, and the Brooklyn Nets built a 21-point first-quarter lead and held on to defeat the Charlotte Hornets 133-121 on Monday night for their first win of the season.

The Nets played without Cam Johnson (calf strain) and Nic Claxton (ankle sprain), forcing them to go to a small lineup, but that didn't stop them from dominating the Hornets early.

Thomas, 22, was again at the center of it.

He became the second-youngest player in NBA history to have three consecutive 30-point games to begin the season, trailing only Shaquille O'Neal.

The Hornets' one-on-one defense was routinely exposed, as they were unable to defend drives by Thomas, Mikal Bridges (24 points) and Lonnie Walker IV and Dorian Finney-Smith (19 each). The Nets shot 56.3% from the field.

"I think it was just our spacing," Thomas said. "We played a lot of small ball and a lot of five-out. That opened up a lot of driving lanes for us. The bigs were pulled out and it gave the guards a lot of driving lanes."

It was the ninth career 30-point game for Thomas. One more and he'll become the fifth player in Nets history to record 10 career 30-point games at age 23 or younger, joining Bernard King (35), Stephon Marbury (14), D'Angelo Russell (13) and Brook Lopez (10).

Thomas said he's getting comfortable now in his third NBA season, and coach Jacque Vaughn likes what he's seeing from the forward.

"We know he has ability to score the basketball, but it has not been forced," Vaughn said. "It's been within the flow of the offense. And then at certain times when we need a bucket and he is capable of doing that also. So he is learning how to survey the game and when we need him to score and when he needs to facilitate."

Information from ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press was used in this report.