Is Nets' Cam Johnson playing vs. Thunder? Latest injury update
Yesterday at 08:46 AM
The Brooklyn Nets will visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. Cam Johnson is questionable on the team’s injury report due to a right ankle sprain.
Here’s everything we know about Johnson’s injury and playing status vs. the Thunder.
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Cam Johnson injury status vs. Thunder
Johnson missed five games earlier this month after spraining his right ankle during a Jan. 2 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He returned on Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers and sparked Brooklyn’s offense, which ranked dead last during a five-game losing streak in his absence. The veteran wing scored a team-high 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting during a 132-114 win.
However, Johnson reinjured his ankle during the first half of the victory. While he finished the game, the Nets ruled him out for their last two matchups — a pair of losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers. Brooklyn listed the 28-year-old as questionable for Friday’s Lakers matchup before ruling him out.
Another questionable tag gives Johnson a chance to suit up against the Thunder, the final matchup of a six-game road trip.
However, the Nets have zero reason to rush him back if he is not 100 percent. Johnson is the team’s most valuable trade asset leading up to the Feb. 6 deadline. League executives have pegged him as the NBA’s most sought-after trade target amid his career-best season.
The 6-foot-8 sharpshooter has averaged a career-high 19.6 points per game on 50/43/90 shooting splits. He leads the league in effective field goal percentage (62.4) among 70 players attempting at least 12 field goals and five three-pointers per game. Johnson’s impact on winning has been astronomical, another reason Brooklyn shouldn’t be in a hurry to reinsert him into the lineup during a tanking season.
The Nets are 0-9 in games he’s missed, with an average margin of defeat of 19.2 points. When he plays, they’re 14-19, a 35-win pace that has them on the outside looking in regarding a top-five draft pick.
Brooklyn has lost seven of its last eight during an injury-riddled stretch entering the Oklahoma City matchup. Meanwhile, the Thunder have won 23 of their last 26. They are, however, coming off a 106-98 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, with MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and center Isaiah Hartensteain missing the game.
Gilgeous-Alexander is questionable vs. the Nets due to a right wrist sprain. Hartenstein is out due to a left calf strain.
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