Last year in the playoffs, a big weakness for the Toronto Raptors was their ability to guard bigger wings. Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce took turns picking apart smaller defenders DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross.
This summer Toronto went out and brought James Johnson back into the mix for when Toronto needs help guarding bigger wings or when opposing teams go small and stick a player like Pierce at power forward.
Johnson was used sparingly this season as he started 17 games but he was ninth on the team in minutes played. Based on how this season played out, he looked like he could be a fringe player in the playoffs unless a specific matchup against a player or team called for his skill set.
Despite not logging big minutes, most fans expected that Johnson would be used more in the playoffs, especially if the team needed someone to guard a bigger wing like Paul Pierce.
It turns out Dwane Casey thinks otherwise.
“James (Johnson) will play in a matchup situation,” Casey told the media after Game 1. “Again, he could be in play later in this series. The difficulty thing to do is play all of our wings. We’ve got a good rotation with Greivis (Vasquez), Kyle (Lowry), DeMar (DeRozan) and Terrence (Ross) in that group and it’s just hard to get that fifth guy in there unless it’s just a special matchup. Again, it will come into play in this series at some point but today wasn’t the day. Believe me, I heard all the people yelling, ‘Put James in, put James in,” but, again, who do you take out? We were having trouble with outside shots. DeMar was doing a good job. Lou was a threat. So, we’ll see. There’s going to be a place for James (Johnson) in this series. I’ve talked with him about that.”
Casey echoed a similar message on Monday afternoon while also expanding his thought process a bit more.
“There are some games where we need his physical ability and then there are some games where we don’t,” Casey explained to the media yesterday afternoon. “He’s kind of caught in between with us. It’s tough and I give James (Johnson) credit. It’s a very difficult situation for him to be in but it was explained to him when he first signed here that that was kind of the role he was going to have. And he’s handled his role great. Throughout the whole year he’s handled it great.”
What makes Casey’s stance and opinion on Johnson interesting is Toronto struggled when Washington matched their smaller line-ups in Game 1. DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross did an admirable job guarding Pierce; it was when Patrick Patterson and Tyler Hansbrough were forced to guard Pierce that Toronto struggled.
“With me at the four,” Pierce said after Game 1, “I think it really opened it up for Brad(ley Beal) and John (Wall). I think when I spread the floor or be a 3-point, drive threat, we get in the lane a little bit more, find the roll man, and if they help, I’m there for an open three. It’s a little bit different for us having two bigs when they pack the lane and wait for us to drive.”
It’s clear that whatever Toronto was doing to Pierce on the defensive end in Game 1 just wasn’t cutting it. Pierce had averaged a paltry 5.6 points on 32 percent shooting in his last 10 regular season games, yet he erupted for a game-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting in Game 1.
According to John Schuhmann of NBA.com, “ten of those 20 points came with Washington playing small in the second quarter, and another three came on the first possession of overtime with Pierce at the four again.”
It will be interesting to see if Casey’s mind changes after he watches tape of Game 1, or, more likely, that Casey was bluffing to the media about how he plans to use Johnson in this series.
But, if Game 1 and Casey’s post-game comment are any indication, it looks doubtful that Johnson will see extended minutes in this series.
