Cameron Johnson has started in all 28 of his appearances for the Denver Nuggets this season. He will undergo an MRI for a right leg injury. Rocky Widner / Getty Images
DALLAS — Denver Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson was helped off the floor early in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks after landing awkwardly on his right leg.
With 9:18 remaining, Johnson fell to the ground and clutched his right knee. He had to be escorted off the floor with what the Nuggets described as a right knee sprain and never returned to the game.
Nuggets coach David Adelman said Johnson will have an MRI to determine the severity of the injury.
“Hopefully, it’s better than it looked,” Adelman said after the Nuggets lost to the Mavericks 131-130.
The Nuggets traded Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Johnson this past summer. Johnson, 29, is averaging 11.8 points and shooting 42.3 percent from 3 on 4.6 attempts per game this season.
Johnson’s injury is a blow to a Nuggets team already missing two starters. Shooting guard Christian Braun suffered a left ankle sprain in a Nov. 12 game and has missed Denver’s last 18 games. Power forward Aaron Gordon has been sidelined since late Nov. 21 with a right hamstring strain and has missed the last 14 games.
The Nuggets (21-8) are still in third place in the Western Conference. Both Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray are having All-Star-caliber seasons. On Tuesday, the duo combined for 60 points and 28 assists in a losing effort.
Jokić, who had 29 points and 14 assists in the loss, narrowly missed on a 15th assist when he found Peyton Watson for a wide-open 3 in the left corner in the game’s final seconds. Watson’s potential game-winner rimmed out, which clinched the win for Dallas.