The misery just won’t end for the Nets. Their season has been nothing short of a nightmare—stuck at the bottom of the standings with no real shot at the playoffs. Desperate to snap a brutal six-game losing streak, they came into tonight’s matchup against the Wizards hoping for a spark. And to their credit, Brooklyn kept it competitive early on. But just when things were looking promising, disaster struck. Their star, Cam Johnson, went down with a scary injury, forcing him to leave the game. Just another tough blow in a season full of them.

The incident occurred in the closing minutes of the final quarter. Running a quick give and go action, Cam drove aggressively to the basket from the left side. Seeing him attack the rim, defender Colby Jones jumped to contest his shot. Although Johnson managed to find his teammate in the corner, he unfortunately collided with Jones mid air and lost his balance. He hit the deck hard and immediately grabbed his tailbone area in immense agony—Cam was hurt.

With Johnson down on the floor, his teammates and staff rushed to check on him. Unable to continue, he left the game and headed to the back. The good news is that he walked off under his own power. But the forward did not return for the remainder of the game, ending his night early with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Well, his fall looked quite similar to what Stephen Curry took last week against the Raptors. He too fell right on his tailbone after colliding with a defender during a drive to the basket. And Steph had to sit out for two straight games with a pelvic contusion.

So, there is a high chance Johnson will also miss some time because of the injury. Moreover, the Nets could even shut him down for the season as they have no shot at making the playoffs. Also, finishing with a worse record will boost their chances of winning the lottery in this year’s draft. So, Cam might very well be done for the year. But the Nets’ problems don’t end there!

Another Nets star suffers brutal injury minutes after Cam Johnson’s nasty fall

While the Brooklyn team was still processing Johnson’s departure, they suffered another massive blow in the form of Noah Clowney. The youngster sprained his right ankle after landing awkwardly following a shot contest on AJ Johnson. In a scary sight, he had to be helped off the floor as he could not continue playing. With that unfortunate incident, Clowney finished the game with 13 points and five rebounds.

These massive setbacks only add to the Nets’ injury woes. Cam and Clowney join the long list of injured players, including D’Angelo Russell, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Nic Claxton. Despite losing two key players in the final minutes, the Nets ended up winning tonight’s game by three points. Although it sounds great, that might not have been the preferred outcome.

That’s because now they are one win ahead of the Sixers, which means their odds of bagging the draft lottery could go down. As per Tankathon, the Nets currently rank sixth in odds to land this year’s first pick, at 9%. Meanwhile, the Sixers are fifth with 10.5%. Moreover, three teams are tied for the first spot with 14% chances—Jazz, Wizards, and Hornets. So, the race for the lottery is on and the outcome of every game could have major consequences. Do you think the Nets should shut down Cam and Clowney now that they have the ‘perfect excuse’?