Nets Notebook: Cam Johnson, Dennis Smith Jr. return from three-game absences against Lakers

Cam Johnson and Dennis Smith Jr. both returned from extended absences for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Barclays Center. And with Ben Simmons, Keita Bates-Diop and Dariq Whitehead sidelined indefinitely, the Nets will not get any healthier than this over their final seven regular-season games.

Johnson and Smith missed Brooklyn’s last three games against Toronto, Washington and Chicago because of different injuries. Johnson was nursing a left big toe sprain while Smith was dealing inflammation in his right hip.

Speaking to reporters ahead of Sunday’s game, interim head coach Kevin Ollie said neither Johnson nor Smith will have any restrictions going forward.

“Just making sure we’re careful about how they’re playing, and I’ll be able to read that,” Ollie said. “I’ve been on the court many times in my career. I know when guys are tired when they say not tired, but I know they’re tired, so I’ll be looking at both of them with their wind and whatnot.”

The craziest thing about the Nets’ 3-point barrage against Chicago on Friday? They did it without Johnson, one of their best long-range marksmen in terms of percentages and total makes this season, on the court.

Johnson started two straight games before he suffered his injury against the Knicks on March 23, but came off the bench against the Lakers on Sunday.

“He definitely [takes] our spacing [to] a whole another level,” Ollie said of Johnson. “They have to respect him. No matter if he has the ball or not have the ball. We always talk about spatial awareness and that’s one of my keys with court mapping and also pattern recognition, having the spatial awareness. I believe he does. He’s a great cutter, too.

“So, we’ve been missing that, how he flies off screens how he pushes picks, gets downhill without the ball, which is a great thing that we tried to you know, always talk to our guys about. You don’t have to break the paint by dribbling. You can also break the paint by cutting with force and with pace. So, he does that great and looking forward to having them back in the rotation tonight.”

LEBRON’S PODCAST

LeBron James, who was in town with the visiting Lakers on Sunday, recently started the “Mind The Game” podcast with JJ Redick, who was one of the best shooters in the NBA during his playing days.

In the show, the two sit down weekly to discuss the state of the game, dissect X’s and O’s, and provide other commentary and analysis on the game of basketball. The second episode dropped on March 27 and Ollie is a fan.

“I’ve definitely seen the podcast, both episodes, they’re great,” Ollie said. “A lot of great information in there. I love LeBron, love JJ, how they give information, they’re two basketball savants. Kind of playing in different basketball realms, with JJ more of a shooter coming off picks but just understanding his knowledge. Then with LeBron it’s just court-mapping and what he does on the basketball court is unbelievable.”

FAMILIAR FACES

Spencer Dinwiddie and Harry Giles III returned to Barclays Center as members of the Lakers on Sunday.

Dinwiddie was traded to Toronto at the Feb. 8 deadline, waived, then signed with the Lakers over other suiters. He was seemingly disgruntled toward the end of his latest tenure with the Nets.

Giles, who returned to the NBA this season after missing the previous two, was waived by Brooklyn at the deadline after appearing in just 16 games.

“Yeah, it means a lot,” Ollie said when asked about Dinwiddie and Giles returning to Brooklyn. “I’ll go see those guys and give them a hug. They got the other jersey on right now, so it’s no praise between the lines, but definitely going to give them a hug. I got two good personal relationships with both of them.”