Nets’ Cam Johnson injures ankle in closing seconds
MILWAUKEE — Cam Johnson, the Nets’ most consistent player all season, got hurt on the second-to-last play of their 113-110 win in Milwaukee.
The forward turned his ankle and had X-rays Thursday night at Fiserv Forum.
Johnson told the Post the imaging came up negative, so he and the Nets avoided the potential worst-case scenario.
Still, Johnson was on crutches after the victory and in clear discomfort.
It was hard to put a downer on a road win at a solid Bucks team — whose draft pick the Nets happen to own — but this was it.
The Nets had allowed a 20-2 Milwaukee run, but held on in the final seconds.
Damian Lillard missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 4.1 ticks left in regulation.
Johnson and Ziaire Williams both went for the defensive rebound, and it appeared Johnson came down on the latter’s foot, causing him to lose the ball out of bounds.
Johnson hopped off the floor with a tweaked ankle, and Milwaukee was awarded the ball with six-tenths of a second left, and Lillard missed a 35-foot heave.
But now the Nets may be missing their most consistent player.
“Yeah, man, I feel real sh–ty about that,” Williams said. “All I know is it was super loud, trying to get the ball, and Cam was behind me. Yeah, I don’t know (what happened). I have to look back. But yeah, man, I kind of ruined the night. I hope it’s nothing serious. I feel really bad right now, I can’t lie to you, man. Yeah, it sucks when you get hurt in a fashion like that.”
Johnson had a team-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, and 6-of-12 from behind the arc.
After Thursday, Johnson is averaging a career-high 19.5 points on white-hot .496/.436/.895 shooting splits.
Now he’s gone down, with no clarity as to how long.
“Yeah, it’s tough. It’s tough to see CJ go down like that,” Cam Thomas told The Post. He had 24 points Thursday in just his second outing after missing a month himself with left hamstring woes.
“And me dealing with what I’m dealing with is tough. But we’ve still got enough guys in here to play; we’ve got to go out there and keep playing. I’m gonna keep fighting through, keep fighting through it, keep playing. Give my all for the guys who can’t. I’m going to just keep going. Hopefully CJ is well though.”
Johnson is expected to be among the most sought-after players available at the trade deadline, and his 3-point shooting has been the engine for Brooklyn’s offense.
“Yeah, unfortunate. Unfortunate,” D’Angelo Russell said. “He’s a strong guy, though. I know he’ll be back soon, and he’ll be back stronger. I’m not worried about him. He’ll be alright.”
Williams had eight points and six rebounds to finish plus-12 in his first game back after missing the past dozen with a left knee injury.
Keon Johnson had a career-high nine rebounds.
