Joe Johnson recovering from plantar fasciitis

NATHANIEL S. BUTLER/NBA VIA GETTY IMAGES

Joe Johnson, the Nets' six-time all star shooting guard, was playing in the playoffs in a lot of pain due to his plantar fasciitis. We knew something had to be wrong with Joe Cool when he shot just 2-14 with six points in the deciding game 7 against the depleted Chicago Bulls.

We had no idea, at the time, why Johnson had such a terrible performance. He told the New York Daily News that there was a "pop" in his foot, and he had to have injections to numb the pain. The plantar fasciitis had been lingering around since February, but nobody knew that it was at the point where he needed injections.

“It got real bad in the playoffs to where my plantar, it popped in Game 1. It popped twice in Game 1,” Johnson told The News. “They say with plantar fasciitis, they say if it snaps, if it pops, then after 2-to-3 weeks of rest, you’ll be back playing so it’s best if it’s going to pop.

“If it doesn’t pop, then it just lingers. Mine didn’t end up popping until Game 1, unfortunately.”

With this issue going on, Johnson still managed to play 48 minutes in game four, and hit two game-tying shots in the final 12 seconds.

Johnson admitted that by game six, the pain was too much to bear.

“One thing people find out about me, I never make excuses,” Johnson said. “I laced them up and played and didn’t really give us nothing in Game 7.”

 With the new roster in Brooklyn, Johnson won't have to shoulder some of the load like he did last year while the Nets were essentially playing 3v5 every game.

“He was always a player with Atlanta who had to play with the ball in his hands. This year is different,” Jason Terry said. “He has a lot of playmakers on this team. The game is going to be a lot more simplified for him. But we still need him to do what he does — and that’s to knock down big shots. But he’s going to be allowed to play off the ball a little bit more and he’s one of  the greatest catch-and-shoot guards that we have in this league today.”

For Johnson, playing off the ball may be a dream come true. Last year, he said how excited he was to not play isolation basketball. Unfortunately for him, Avery Johnson and P.J. Carlesimo had other ideas. The Nets played mostly isolation last season. So this year, Joe will definitely get his long-awaited chance to not be known as Iso-Joe.

When it comes to being clutch, Joe Johnson was the definition last year.

“There’s no guy I feel can guard me one-on-one down the stretch,” Johnson said. “It’s just me and him. There’s no help defense. There’s no double team. So it’s like you’re on an island."

Source: NY Daily News
Follow @NetsTakeOver