For Cam Johnson, this must feel frustratingly familiar.
This is the second time in the past four weeks that Johnson has been sidelined for an extended period due to injury, and he will miss Thursday’s game against the Pistons.
The Nets’ third-leading scorer (13.8 points per game) suffered a sprained right ankle during Tuesday’s come-from-behind win against the 76ers and was listed on Wednesday’s injury report after undergoing further testing.
Johnson scored 29 points and 23 points (two of his four biggest points of the season) for the Hawks in back-to-back games last week, and scored 18 points against the Grizzlies.
He was plus-39 in those three games.
Johnson tried to stay healthy, but instead got hurt on the landing after taking a 3-pointer in the first half when he was stuffed by the 76ers’ Kyle Lowry.
No foul was called.
He limped off the court about a minute later and was still limping on his way out of Barclays Center at the end of the night.
Just last month, Johnson missed four games with a left adductor strain despite averaging 15.3 points on 51.2 percent shooting from the floor in four straight games.
Before Johnson regained his form at the expense of the Hawks, he saw his minutes reduced in five straight games and scored 8.2 points per game.
Johnson also missed seven games early in the season with a calf strain.
C. Dayron Sharpe (right wrist contusion) was upgraded to questionable after missing the last game.
G Ben Simmons (left lumbar nerve impingement), G Cam Thomas (right ankle/midfoot sprain), and F Darik Whitehead (left shin stress reaction) remain sidelined.
PF Dorian Finney-Smith has made 7 of 13 shots from behind the arc in the past two games.
That’s the same number of threes he’s made on 28 attempts over the past nine games.
So is his touch coming back? He’s shooting 37.6 percent from 3-point range this season, up from 35.9 percent for his career.
“It’s something that keeps coming back,” he said. “I feel like the average is going to be that way. Just try not to focus on that. Shoot the ball with confidence and let the results be the results.”
