Tonight, as the Denver Nuggets lost against the Dallas Mavericks, going down 130-131, one moment stole all the attention. Nuggets forward Cam Johnson, the team’s reliable floor spacer and major offseason acquisition, went down with an injury.

The sequence took place in the fourth quarter, with 9:18 left on the clock. Johnson went up for a defensive rebound but landed awkwardly and went down, holding his knee. Nuggets staff and players helped him up, and he was seen limping to the locker room. Afterward, he was ruled out for the rest of the night.

“It’s concerning,” Nuggets head coach David Adelman told the media after the game. “I haven’t heard yet… We’ll find out. Obviously, imaging has to happen before anything else, but it was not a fun sight to see… Hopefully the news is better than it looked.”

Johnson finished tonight’s game with eight points on 3-7 shooting with two threes in 24 minutes of action.

Johnson has been extremely impactful for Denver after a slow start to the year, averaging 14.2 points per game on 50.2% from the field and a blazing hot 51.2% from three over his last 17 games.

Adelman admitted that his recent play made the sight all the more deflating, but Johnson is just the latest in a series of unfortunate injuries to key pieces.

Apart from Johnson, starters Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon have also missed extended time, and both currently remain out due to an ankle sprain and a hamstring strain, respectively.

It has taken Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to have their best years of their careers so far to keep the Nuggets above water, but as injuries continue to pile up, this will only become harder.

David Adelman Details Injury Timelines For the Shorthanded Denver Nuggets

David Adelman expanded beyond Cam Johnson, detailing what they knew about the recovery timeline and process for Braun and Gordon, as well as when they might return to the lineup again.

“All I know is it’s the trip, maybe,” Adelman told reporters. “They’re making strides. Both guys seem confident with the progress they’re making… When you lose bodies, your biggest worry is losing more, because you have to play people into the ground to win games in a competitive league like this.”

The Nuggets open their Eastern Conference road trip after Christmas, beginning with the Orlando Magic on December 27th and ending on January 7th against the Boston Celtics, with stops in Miami, Toronto, Cleveland, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia.

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It’s dangerous territory for a roster as stretched thin as this one.

However, what was said more was Adelman’s admission about losing bodies. Denver is managing injuries and, more importantly, exposure.

These extended runs put a lot of pressure on both Jokic and Murray, who must carry a larger offensive load, and the bench, which must step out of their roles to contribute in other ways to keep the team afloat.

Whether Johnson, Gordon, and Braun miss days or weeks, the concern isn’t abstract but immediate and has structural implications.

With the Nuggets embarking on one of their most grueling road trips of the season, Adelman’s words linger more like a warning instead of a diagnosis.