Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Tyler Johnson’s ankle, and play, take turns for the better
The explosiveness was back at shooting guard, on a night set up for exactly such a possibility.
Only the aggression came not from the man of the moment, but rather a player who had been lacking any such moments over the past month.
Whether inspired by Dwyane Wade’s return to the Miami Heat or simply past the worst of an ankle issue that had limited him since midJanuary, Tyler Johnson finally had his long-awaited breakout moment in Friday’s victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
After a miserable run that had him 19 of 59 from the field, averaging 7.7 points in his first seven games back from a five-game absence with a sprained left ankle, Johnson broke out with 19 points as the Heat snapped their five-game losing streak.
“I started attacking the basket more,” he said, the Heat now on a three-day break before resuming their schedule Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. “I think these last couple of games that I’ve been struggling, I’ve been standing out on the perimeter to try to shoot my way out of it.
“A lot of it I think had to do with my ankle being a little bit sore, maybe not trusting it all the way. I’ve been putting in a lot of work to try and get that pain out and get that explosion back. I just felt like I could not get off the ground as much as I would have liked to. I just took it upon myself to be a little more aggressive.”
The results were tangible, with coach Erik Spoelstra playing Johnson a team high 36:22, even while cycling through nine players.
“Tyler will always break out of it. We were never concerned about it,” Spoelstra said. “He’s going to put in time. He’s pure. He wants to do right for the team. He’s always feeling like he’s letting guys down when he doesn’t play well.
“That’s how you wish everybody acted all season long and wore that competitiveness. You want all the guys to wear that competitiveness on their sleeves all the time. I’m sure he feels good about it, but I wasn’t concerned.”
Johnson feels good mostly because he feels good, having severely turned the ankle in the Jan. 15 loss to the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.
“It’s getting closer,” he said. “It’s something you’re going to have to deal with, especially the way the injury occurred and what happened to it. It’s not a typical ankle strain. It’s different movement that kind of irritates it. I’m starting to trust it and maybe a little bit more comfortable with it.”
It wasn’t as much of Wade’s arrival as the season-ending ankle surgery of guard Dion Waiters that drove Johnson to start driving.
“It opens up everything and allows me to get people involved, too, kind of like how Dion would,” he said. “Dion was constantly attacking and putting pressure on the basket. He kind of opened things up for a lot of people. So I kind of took it upon myself to try to be a little bit more aggressive. One, to try and get myself going, but, two, to try and open things up.”