Investment pays off
James Johnson’s record performance Monday a result of being himself
MIAMI — It was too long of a night and too late for anything but candor. So Goran Dragic went to the numbers when discussing Monday’s performance by fellow Miami Heat captain James Johnson, numbers beyond Johnson’s career-high 31 points.
Instead, on a night Johnson cashed in with 18 points in the two overtimes in the Heat’s 149-141 victory over the Denver Nuggets, Dragic tried to make sense about dollars.
“I think maybe he put a little bit too much pressure on himself, especially when he signed the deal,” Dragic said of Johnson’s uneven play since agreeing to a four-year, $60 million freeagent contract in July, just as Dragic felt pressure in the wake of taking a five-year, $90 million Heat deal in 2015. “I went through that, too, so I can relate to that. The team, the fans, they’re expecting more. So maybe because of that.
“We always told him, ‘Hey, be yourself.’ ”
If Monday was Johnson being himself, then it is possible both the 31-year-old forward and the Heat will cash out from last summer’s agreement.
Beyond the 11 rebounds and six assists Johnson put into his Monday mix, consider the 18 points he scored in the two overtimes was one more point than he scored in the previous 16 overtimes periods in his nine-year career. The 18 points were the most in the Heat’s 30 seasons for a player after the fourth quarter.
Johnson said it was a factor of both remaining active and the Nuggets prioritizing stopping Dragic, Wayne Ellington and Kelly Olynyk.
“Just being confident,” said Johnson, whose previous scoring high this season was 22 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on Feb. 14 and his previous career high was 27 points against the Houston Rockets in 2015 while with the Toronto Raptors. “I think it all started when Coach drew up that play for me to try to end the first overtime. It just kept flowing from there.
“The ball finds energy and [they] were doing a great job of stopping our guys that were really on fire like Kelly Olynyk, Dragon, Wayne. I just happened to be open. The guys happened to find me and I just took the shots I happen to work on every day.” Johnson was off with his inside attempt at the end of the first extra period but responded with 10 points in the second extra session.
“I mean, what can you say? Our captain was so inspiring. How many minutes did he play?” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra asked, with the NBA stats system crashing on a night the Heat set a franchise high for points, with Johnson’s time on the court coming in at 46:15. “So he was guarding both their bigs. And then he just erupted, you know, at the end, the threes, the drive, the dunk. It was challenging to score end of the game and overtimes, especially when they started to adjust everything. And J.J. was just able to create opportunity out of seemingly nothing, or when we got stuck. And that’s what great leaders do for you.”
For most of the season, Johnson has been decidedly less. He went into Monday ninth on the team in scoring, at 10.3 points per game, at just .298 on 3-pointers before going 4 of 6 beyond the arc against the Nuggets.
“J.J. has been trending in the right way for several games,” Spoelstra said before giving his team Tuesday off in advance of Wednesday’s game against the New York Knicks at AmericanAirlines Arena. “If nobody’s noticing, fine. We’ll keep it that way around the league. That locker room knows that he’s been playing great. He’s been providing the leadership, consistency and it has nothing to do with that stats.”
But even to teammates who were alongside for Johnson’s breakout during last season’s 30-11 finish, Monday was another level.
“He was doing it from every angle on the floor, shooting threes, he had mid-range, he was getting to the cup, and-ones, strong finishes,” said Ellington. “That’s the type of guy he’s capable of being. We know that. He was trying to be aggressive. He’s such a team guy, sometimes he defers to his teammates. We love that about him, as well.”