All U Can Heat
Fansided

James Johnson kept the Miami Heat afloat during Damian Lillard’s onslaught

By Frank Urbina

Mar 19, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat forward James Johnson (16) slam dunks past Portland Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh (21) during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat forward James Johnson (16) slam dunks past Portland Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh (21) during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Sometimes opposing players get hot, and other times they score 49 points on 21 shots. James Johnson did his best to keep the Miami Heat in the game.

Welcome to the Hot Hand, where after every Miami Heat game win or lose we recognize the player who best put his stamp on the game.

Bad luck and questionable officiating doomed the Miami Heat in their 115-104 loss to the Portland Trailblazers on Sunday night. Damian Lillard went supernova, tying his career high in three pointers made, with nine on 12 attempts. Jusuf Nurkic also provided a major boost for Portland, scoring 21 points, securing 12 rebounds and blocking three shots.

Miami could do little to quell the onslaught, and if not for the contributions of a certain backup, the final outcome would have looked even worse.

James Johnson had a monster game in his 33 minutes. He led the Heat in scoring with 24 points, on a tidy 9-of-13 shooting, to go with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 threes. I would classify that stat line as: Not bad.

Specifically, his play in the second half kept Miami going during Lillard’s barrage from beyond the arc. Johnson attacked the basket, dove for loose balls and blocked shots.

Ultimately, however, even his performance wasn’t enough for the Heat. The loss dropped them back to No. 9 in the Eastern Conference, behind the Detroit Pistons.

Miami (34-36) now gets a day off to regroup before hosting the very-deep-in-the-gutter Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. The game tips at 7:30 pm ET from AmericanAirlines Arena. Make sure you tune in.

Notes

  • Hassan Whiteside scored the first 10 points of the game for the Heat, using a mix of fluid post moves and thunderous finishes to put early pressure on the Blazers. It legitimately looked like he was headed for a 40 point night.
    • Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Whiteside went on to score just seven more points the rest of the game, picked up five fouls and pretty much got abused by Nurkic in the second half.
      • The Whiteside Conundrum is always confounding, but never not interesting.
  • Tonight was the first real Goran Dragic stinker we have had in a while.
    • Miami’s point guard scored 17 points but missed 16 of his 22 shot attempts. He also had just three assists to go with his two turnovers.
    • Look for him to drop about 35 points against the his old team — the Suns — on Tuesday.
  • Dion Waiters’ absence was massive.
    • Josh Richardson got the start and was disappointing yet again. His plus/minus was a minus-9, he went 1-for-3 from deep, while scoring ten points.
    • Not to mention most of Lillard’s damage came with Richardson guarding him.
      • Sure, it may not be fair to pin that all on J-Rich, but it would have been nice to see at least a decent defensive showing. I mean, that’s the only reason he got the starting nod.
  • Second game in a row Miami struggles from three.
    • After making just eight on Friday night, they went 9-of-31 against Portland.
    • The good news is they still scored 104 points, so the offense packs a punch even without the three pointers dropping.
Home/Heat News