ORLANDO, Fla. — Nets guard Cam Thomas missed Tuesday night’s 108-81 loss to the Magic due to a sprained right ankle.
He underwent an MRI scan on his ankle here on Tuesday morning, but the results were unknown due to a tip-off.
Thomas injured teammate Dayron Sharpe’s leg with 7 minutes, 23 seconds left in Monday’s 111-86 win at Memphis.
He underwent an X-ray at FedEx Forum that night, but the results were negative.
However, it is almost expected that Thomas will undergo an X-ray, as all arenas have such equipment.
The young guard undergoing an MRI the next day was somewhat remarkable.
This is not the first time Thomas has sprained his ankle this season.
He sprained his other ankle in a win over the Clippers on November 9, missed the next nine games, and finally returned on November 30.
But he believes this case is less serious and the recovery time will be much faster.
“I feel like it’s not that serious. I should be fine,” Thomas said. “Yes, I can walk now so it’s not a problem. I’ll take it day by day. But it’s not as bad as last time, so I’m not too worried.”
Ben Simmons was absent on Tuesday and had not yet been cleared by the performance team to play consecutive games as he manages his recovery from back surgery.
The point guard said he is inching closer to clearing the field.
“Yes, I feel like we’re getting closer. If possible. [soon],” He said.
With Simmons and Thomas out, Cam Johnson returned to the starting lineup.
The Nets were accompanied by Dorian Finney-Smith, Nic Claxton, Mikal Bridges and Dennis Schroder.
The Nets didn’t have to play star Paolo Banchero (ill) or big man Jonathan Isaac (ill).
However, they missed a golden opportunity to acquire the Magic while being short-staffed.
“Every time we lose, it’s a missed opportunity,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “These are NBA basketball players. They’re professionals.
“You know they have a great team over there even without Paolo, and they have a great team even without Ben and some of the players, which we are missing.” [Thomas]So, we just expect our guys to step up and unfortunately they didn’t step up enough tonight to get the win. ”
Mikal Bridges was held to just 4 points on 2-of-14 shooting, including 0-of-7 from 3-point range.
His season low was six games. It was the infamous loss to Milwaukee in which he logged only 12 minutes and expressed frustration with Brooklyn sitting rotation players and pulling games on punts.
