Nets Cam Johnson misses another game due to sprained right ankle
LOS ANGELES — The last time Cam Johnson had a sprained right ankle, he missed five games and the Nets lost every single one.After making his return in Tuesday’s slump-busting win in Portland, Johnson was sidelined for Wednesday night’s 126-67 blowout loss to the Clippers … with a sprained right ankle.Brooklyn can only hope this isn’t as severe and more an abundance of caution, because the past couple of weeks have underscored Johnson’s value— both by what he provides with his presence and what the Nets lack in his absence.“C.J.draws a lot of attention for us offensively,” Noah Clowney said.
“He’s a hell of a scorer.And him drawing attention helps all the other guys get easy shots.”That was underscored Tuesday when Johnson made his return to the court with a team-high 24 points on 10-for-18 shooting, leading the struggling Nets to a rout of the Trail Blazers.
His return was short-lived, back on the sideline.But it’s unclear if there was a recurrence or if the Nets simply held him out because it was the tail end of a back-to-back.The Nets are fairly conservative with their performance team, and it’s easy to see why they could be cautious to a fault with Johnson.
The forward is averaging 19.6 points on stellar 49.6/42.8/89.7 shooting splits, approaching the 50/40/90 benchmark accomplished by just nine players in NBA history.Johnson is also by far their most valuable trade asset as well.
Sign up for Inside the Nets by Brian Lewis, exclusively on Sports+.Please provide a valid email address.
By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! The Post has consistently reported that — despite Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith having been very much on the trade block — Brooklyn is going to hold out for the highest price for Johnson, the equivalent of two first-round picks.
Now NBA insider Jake Fisc...