MINNEAPOLIS — Nuggets forward Cam Johnson dealt with right shoulder soreness and didn’t finish Monday night’s game against Minnesota, but coach David Adelman was not too concerned about long-term ramifications after Denver’s 127-114 win.
“He was in pain. His shoulder was hurting him,” Adelman said. “I don’t think it’s extremely serious, but it was bothersome. To his credit, he came back out and tried to play. But that’s why it’s nice to have a guy like Tim (Hardaway Jr.) off your bench. Cam struggled a little bit tonight physically.”
Hardaway scored 15 of his 20 points in the third quarter as the Nuggets overcame an eight-point halftime deficit. Johnson had his shoulder wrapped up on the bench during the second half. He briefly returned in the fourth quarter but only stayed on the court for about a minute.
Johnson was limited to five points on five shots, and the Nuggets lost his 19 minutes by 14 points on a night when nobody else in the rotation was worse than a minus-one. He also picked up five fouls, including a flagrant for a close-out on a 3-point shooter. Johnson has been visibly frustrated by his whistle early this season while acclimating to a new team.
“He’s gotta stop fouling,” Adelman said bluntly, before sharing some sympathy. “I mean, I did feel like a few of the fouls were tough because it felt like the game was super-physical, and there was hand-check stuff they called on him. But you have to react to how the game’s being called, even individually some nights. So he’ll learn from it. We’ll talk about it.”
Adelman closed the game with Hardaway and Peyton Watson in place of a struggling Christian Braun, whose finishing has not been up to standard the first week of the season. Watson knocked down a pair of corner 3s and intercepted a pass to produce a layup as Denver pulled away in the fourth quarter.
“Christian was out there. Christian was great on the bench. Peyton finished the game,” Adelman said. “We won the game. That’s the only thing that matters in this league, scoring more points than the other team.
“That’s gonna be us this year. We have options. And that’s the thing. The locker room has to be unselfish. If they are and they’re happy for their teammates on that particular night, they have to trust that those guys are gonna feel the same way for them when it’s their opportunity to finish games.”