The Nets discover themselves scrapping for seconds and short-handed as soon as once more.
Previous to Saturday’s sport in opposition to the 76ers at Barclays Middle, the group introduced that Cam Thomas and Cam Johnson have been dominated out of the sport and past.
Thomas, who missed 13 video games resulting from a left hamstring harm, suffered a brand new left hamstring harm within the Nets’ 113-110 win over the Bucks on Thursday.
The group’s prime scorer, averaging a career-high 24.7 factors per sport, shall be evaluated after the Nets’ West Coast journey from Jan. 10-19 — six video games in 10 days.
In the meantime, Johnson suffered a proper ankle sprain within the closing seconds of the Milwaukee sport after Noah Clowney landed on the ahead’s foot after grabbing a rebound.
The X-rays following the sport got here again unfavorable, however the Nets introduced that Johnson is anticipated to overlook the subsequent three video games and shall be evaluated earlier than the lengthy highway journey.
The accidents go away head coach Jordi Fernandez’s palms tied once more, forcing him to show to his bench and ask for the subsequent man up.
“There’s gonna be a lot of minutes to be played and a lot of shots to be taken and it’s not just one person,” Fernandez stated forward of tipoff. “And I feel the fellows have a terrific mindset and a togetherness and I feel we’re able to fill proper there what we have to fill. So, excited to see a few of these others guys do issues that they’re not used to doing or possibly as a lot. So, an excellent problem for all of us.
“We’ll have right around 10-11 healthy bodies and rotations can go 9-10, so it’s gonna be everybody. Sometimes even if I say I want this guy to take more shots, you never know because all of those guys have done a good job being open and shooting it. I’m happy with all of them as long as they take good shots and high-volume shots. That’s how we’re gonna go about it.”
Thomas’ harm is extra of a thriller for the Nets because it’s unknown the place it originated.
His first hamstring ailment got here from a routine step-back shot in opposition to the Warriors on Nov. 25.
“I think it was discomfort,” Fernandez defined. “As a result of sooner or later, I can see the distinction between the primary half and second half, energy-wise and effectivity. However I may also assume, ‘Well, you haven’t performed shortly, so, , you’re not as contemporary,’ so I don’t know. I don’t know, however, , he did an excellent job getting again and being able to play.
“He started great, the two games. Orlando, and being able to get back, both games were very efficient in the first stint he played. And now this injury is — I feel for him because obviously we want CT with us, and he was doing a great job scoring efficiently. And you know, day-to-day, we want to have him around, and we will have him around, it’s just not on the court. But we know he’ll be back soon.”
The Nets will now rely closely on D’Angelo Russell and Ben Simmons — who’ve but to play on the courtroom on the identical time— to orchestrate the offense.
They served as replacements for each other in opposition to the Raptors on Wednesday, with Russell scoring 22 off the bench.
Simmons went for an alarming minus-18 with two factors and 6 assists.
Fernandez is uncertain of simply how he’ll make the most of the 2 within the close to future.
“Right now, with the bodies we have, we’re going to try to do, you know, we’re a little limited to be creative right there,” Fernandez stated. “So, I’m happy obviously with them playing together or playing separately because you always want a ball handler and a player that can create for his teammates, and they both can do it. In the long run, I don’t know. I don’t want to make things up in my mind. … I’m looking forward to them telling me how they want to play and how they complement each other, and, ultimately, the rest of the group.”
