Miami Heat: James Johnson displays his value in return to lineup
The Miami Heat sent James Johnson home from training camp a while back for not meeting physical conditioning standards. He’s back and fitting right in.
The Miami Heat dismantled the Houston Rockets on Sunday in Miami. It wasn’t a close game at all, with the Heat winning 129-100. A noticeable difference to the Heat lineup in this lopsided victory though was the returning James Johnson.
Having not played in the first five games due to not meeting conditioning standards, Johnson was away from the team until he got to where he needed to be. In the short time between when he was dismissed from training camp until now, there have been all sorts of rumblings if you’ve kept your ear to the ground.
You saw or heard all sorts of things. Some seemed like they couldn’t wait to throw dirt on his name. Others were ready to move on.
Some dared to even lump him into the same category as Dion Waiters. All fair, perhaps, but all possibly foul as well.
In this current Miami Heat situation, James Johnson is the ultimate chess piece at Erik Spoelstra’s disposal. When you think about the positionless, versatile, and multiple approaches that could be taken offensively and defensively with a lineup consisting of Jimmy Butler, Justise Winslow, and James Johnson alone, that is enough to make you excited, but there are so many more potential possibilities as well.
Johnson is a defensive weapon in spurts when called on to stop the opposing team’s best wings. He displayed that in Sunday’s game against the Rockets. There was specifically this sequence where he forced James Harden into a bad shot after covering and denying him a basket throughout an entire possession.
Along with his stellar defensive efforts on Sunday, James Johnson was a big part of the group effort that went into blasting off on the Rockets. Johnson had 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists on 7-12 shooting from the field and 2-5 shooting from three.
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James Johnson has a great and specific value to the Miami Heat, especially on this team with this amount of firepower and defensive ability. It was on full display against Houston in his first action of the season. He should be a big part of what the Heat continue to do this year.