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Joe Johnson enjoys Brooklyn reunion in Miami

Former Net Star Looking Forward to Another Playoff Run with Heat

March 29, 2016 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Former Net Joe Johnson met up with Shane Larkin and the rest of Johnson’s ex-teammates in Miami Monday night as the Heat snapped Brooklyn’s two-game winning streak. AP Photo
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The stat line was pedestrian at best.

But the end result made for a happy reunion between Joe Johnson and his former teammates.

Happy for Johnson, that is.

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The ex-Net managed only two points on 1-of-8 shooting, grabbed four rebounds and handed out seven assists Monday night as the Miami Heat snapped Brooklyn’s modest two-game winning streak with a 110-99 triumph in front of 20,003 fans at AmericanAirlines Arena.

After toiling for the better part of four seasons as a Net, trying in vain to elevate Brooklyn to serious Eastern Conference contender status, Johnson was bought out and waived by new general manager Sean Marks on Feb. 25.

The seven-time NBA All-Star, including 2014 when he was Brooklyn’s lone representative, was quickly picked up by the playoff-bound Heat, and has done his share to help them go 11-4 since his arrival in South Beach.

Facing his former team for the first time since leaving Brooklyn, Johnson didn’t quite light up the scoreboard, but did enjoy watching his new teammates Dwyane Wade (30 points on 14-of-19 shooting) and Hassan Whiteside (27 points off the bench) continue their playoff push at the Nets’ expense.

“I just wanted to go somewhere to have a chance with a contender and do what was best for me and my family,” Johnson said after Miami moved in front of Boston and Charlotte for the coveted fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Brook Lopez scored a team-high 26 points and Thaddeus Young added 20 and nine rebounds for Brooklyn, which was denied its first three-game winning streak of this disastrous fourth campaign in our fair borough.

Lopez, a teammate of Johnson’s since former GM Billy King traded for the sharp-shooter from Atlanta during the summer of 2012, admitted it was strange to go up against a player that helped Brooklyn reach the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons.

“It was surreal,” said the 7-footer from Stanford. “It’s been a long time since I’ve played against him in a game. I’m happy for him and the situation he’s in. He seems to be enjoying it. I wish him all the best, but wish we could have got the win against him.”

The Nets certainly had their chances.

Down by only one point early in the third quarter, Brooklyn once again was victimized by Wade, who has made a habit of dominating the Nets since their relocation.

The three-time NBA champion scored seven consecutive points to spark the game’s decisive run, helping to give Miami a 78-65 bulge with 3:16 remaining in the third.

“It was tough once D-Wade got going,” Lopez admitted. “We had to focus a lot on him. He definitely controlled the game, controlled the tempo. Obviously, he’s integral to what they do. He made a lot of tough baskets, vintage D-Wade stuff.”

“Dwyane Wade. He’s like wine,” Nets interim coach Tony Brown added. “He gets better with age. He was great, he attacked us all night.”

Despite Wade’s usual exploits against the Nets, Brooklyn could have probably eked out a win if not for the unexpected emergence of Whiteside off the bench.

The reserve big man dominated the interior, helping Miami to a whopping 72 points in the paint — the most by any Nets opponent this season.

“They gave us a taste of our own medicine,” Brown lamented after watching his team yield 23 points off turnovers in addition to its inability to defend the paint.

“Whiteside came in and gave them a huge lift off the bench,” he added. “He played great. The rolls off the rim, the lob plays, they go to him and he’s unbelievably gifted around the rim.”

Johnson, who will turn 35 in June and is in the twilight of a brilliant career, is counting on young, gifted players like Whiteside and playoff-proven veterans like Wade to help him claim his first NBA title later this year.

“Knowing this team was a piece or two away from possibly being at the top, I just wanted to help in some fashion,” Johnson noted. “This is the most fun time of the season.”

Nothing But Net: A pair of 10-day contracts helped Sean Kilpatrick land a three-year contract with Brooklyn, and backup center Henry Sims is doubtlessly hoping for the same after Marks inked him to a second 10-day deal this past weekend. Sims had four points and six rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench for Brooklyn in Miami on Monday night, and is averaging around five points and five boards in his first five games for the Nets … The Nets were slated to visit Orlando on Tuesday before taking on LeBron James and the conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on Thursday night.

 


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