It seemed bizarre that Larry Johnson continued to find himself wide open last night against the supposedly vise-grip Miami defense. What were the Heat thinking?
As it turned out, the Heat was thinking clearly. LeavingJohnson open proved to be the smartest strategy Pat Riley could devise.
There were shots galore for Johnson, the usually reluctant long-distance shooter who arrived into the playoffs thinking he was John Starks. Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to a player is to experience success doing something he’s not accustomed to doing, and that was definitely the case for Johnson, who mirrored the woes of the Knicks in their 87-72 collapse to the Heat.
Johnson has often been criticized for passing up open shots, but not now, not in the postseason, not against a Miami team that appeared to dare him to hoist up 20-foot jumpers. Johnson obliged, and the results were dismal: He shot 4 of 15 from the floor – he was 3 of 10 from 3-point range – and when a player takes 15 shots and scores only 11 points, something is wrong.
In 37 minutes, Johnson did pull down a team-high 12 rebounds, but his shooting killed the Knicks, and he knew it. Teammates said Johnson took the loss hard, and there’s not much time for him to recover before he and the Knicks must do battle again in the decisive Game 5 tomorrow in Miami.
“Larry had some great looks, and he’s down on himself right now,” Kurt Thomas said. “But we need him to get his head right and realize those shots are going to be there down in Miami and we need him to knock them down for us.
“Any time you miss shots you’re going to be down on yourself. Everybody is down, not just Larry.”
In a near-silent postgame locker room, Johnson entered, gathered his clothes from his locker and made a quick exit.
Nearly all season, Johnson steered clear of launching 3-pointers, and when he did hoist one up, it was only after he seemingly hesitated before shooting. It was not hesitation, he explained, but the need to rotate the ball in his hands until he gets the feel just right. That’s the kind of long-range shooter he is; everything must be in order for him to let one fly.
Once the playoffs hit, Johnson changed his approach, and in the first three games he attempted 16 treys. He hit six, and while his accuracy (.375) was nothing special, he made a habit of making big shots at big moments.
Nothing changed last night, as Johnson came out firing, finding himself open behind the arc as the Heat defense continually dared him to beat them from outside. It was a sound strategy in the first quarter, as Johnson missed all five of his shots from the floor and both his 3-point tries. By halftime, the Knicks led 44-40 and Johnson was still firing – make that misfiring. He was 2 of 10 from the floor and a miserable 1 of 6 from 3-point range. Of his two baskets, one came when he chased down his own errant shots and put in the follow from two feet out.
Early in the third quarter, Johnson finally provided a spark. After Alonzo Mourning lost the ball in the lane, the Knicks had one of their rare quickly paced possessions, with the ball finding Johnson on the left side in transition. With P.J. Brown running at him too late, Johnson nailed a 3-pointer to put the Knicks up 49-40, prompting a Miami timeout.
Johnson hit another pull-up 3-pointer to give the Knicks a 54-47 lead, but moments later he missed two free throws, starting a swoon that hit the entire Knick team down the stretch of the fourth quarter.