Cam Johnson has been a nightly unstoppable offensive force for the Nets in December. The 28-year-old forward has averaged 23.4 points per game in his first nine appearances this month while shooting 50% from the field, 44.3% from 3-point range and 87.7% from the free throw line.
That includes four games with at least 20 points and one 33-point eruption in a 101-94 defeat of the Toronto Raptors last week.
Johnson has been the difference for Brooklyn in close games, for better or worse, depending on how you measure team success. Few wings on the open market have matched his recent production. And as he continues to surge, so does the price tag for any contending team looking to acquire him.
“He’s our movement guy. He creates a lot of attention,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “He’s running miles and miles and miles and a lot of the time he’s not the one taking the shot. But he’s definitely brought that composure to the group that has helped us in big-time moments where we were able to take the lead and close the game.”
One of those moments came in Thursday’s 111-105 defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. An 82-76 game entering the fourth quarter, the Nets stormed back behind Johnson and Shake Milton to take a 99-97 lead with 3:40 left.
The Nets were up three with 1:06 left when the Bucks suffered their worst mental lapse of the night. For whatever reason, they doubled Ben Simmons on a ball screen at the 3-point line and left Johnson wide open. The forward knocked down the trey despite getting fouled by Milwaukee’s Ryan Rollins on the attempt. He completed the four-point play at the free throw line moments later, which gave Brooklyn a seven-point edge with 47.9 seconds left.
Johnson scored 10 of his game-high 29 points in the final frame.
Trade speculation has followed Johnson since the offseason, but he continues to stay in the moment and fight for his current team. Some fans may not appreciate it, given the Nets’ rebuilding situation. But Johnson and company pay no attention to the noise.
“When we believe we can win the game, which we did the entire game, we give ourselves a chance,” Johnson said. “So, it kind of starts with that belief… And then that kind of empowers guys to go out there and make plays, like Shake did, like Keon [Johnson] did, Noah [Clowney] hitting 3s. So, it’s just that belief that we have to have across our roster that showed up in the second half for us today.”
