LOS ANGELES — The final time Cam Johnson had a sprained proper ankle, he missed 5 video games and the Nets misplaced each single one.
After making his return in Tuesday’s slump-busting win in Portland, Johnson was sidelined for Wednesday evening’s 126-67 blowout loss to the Clippers … with a sprained proper ankle.
Brooklyn can solely hope this isn’t as extreme and extra an abundance of warning, as a result of the previous couple of weeks have underscored Johnson’s worth— each by what he offers together with his presence and what the Nets lack in his absence.
“C.J. draws a lot of attention for us offensively,” Noah Clowney mentioned. “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 docket with a team-high 24 factors on 10-for-18 taking pictures, main the struggling Nets to a rout of the Path Blazers.
His return was short-lived, again on the sideline. But it surely’s unclear if there was a recurrence or if the Nets merely held him out as a result of it was the tail finish of a back-to-back.
The Nets are pretty conservative with their efficiency crew, and it’s simple to see why they might be cautious to a fault with Johnson.
The ahead is averaging 19.6 factors on stellar 49.6/42.8/89.7 taking pictures splits, approaching the 50/40/90 benchmark completed by simply 9 gamers in NBA historical past.
Johnson can be by far their most dear commerce asset as effectively.
The Submit has constantly reported that — regardless of Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith having been very a lot on the commerce block — Brooklyn goes to carry out for the best worth for Johnson, the equal of two first-round picks. Now NBA insider Jake Fischer’s latest report reiterates that’s nonetheless the case.
It’s price noting that, as The Stein Line reported, Johnson’s commerce quantity isn’t simply his $22.5 million wage, however groups would additionally should account for the wing’s $27 million “apron salary” that might hit the books of any apron crew because of the unlikely bonuses baked into his four-year, $94 million deal.
It will make transferring him extra difficult than would seem at first blush.
Nic Claxton was questionable however performed towards the Clippers after lacking Tuesday’s win with proper hamstring tightness.
He scored two factors and was 1-for-7 from the sector.
Ben Simmons sat out, nonetheless not cleared to play each nights of back-to-backs.
Cam Thomas, Bojan Bogdanovic, Maxwell Lewis, Trendon Watford and DeAnthony Melton had been additionally out, and D’Angelo Russell didn’t play. … P.J. Tucker was out because the Clippers look to commerce him.
Ziaire Williams’ offense was coming round, earlier than Wednesday’s four-point dud.
He had 13 factors on 3-for-4 from deep with seven boards towards Portland to complete plus-6 in 28 minutes.
He had scored double-digit factors in a career-high six straight video games, averaging 13.7 factors and 5.7 rebounds on 42.9 % taking pictures from behind the arc.
