Congratulations to Joe Johnson.

[Diesel]

Joe pulled those old men through. I hope they beat the hell out of the Heat.

[Vol4ever]

Good job Joe!

[Dnice]

They missed a good bit of shots in the 4th but did just enough to win.

[benhillboy]

I didn't catch what he did in Game 1 versus the Heat, obviously not much. I was very surprised with his performance in the First Round though. He was beasting. He should have at least 1 big game in the Heat series. I'm not surprised they lost, but the beat down was a little surprising.

Every team that has boasted a 4 game regular season sweep over a playoff opponent has won the series 25 out of 25 times. Maybe the Nets felt a little complacency. The Kang will fix that pretty quick and Kidd will adjust. If they sit Deron Williams down they can take it to 7 games

Edited May 7, 2014 by benhillboy

[macdaddy]

I didn't catch what he did in Game 1 versus the Heat, obviously not much. I was very surprised with his performance in the First Round though. He was beasting. He should have at least 1 big game in the Heat series. I'm not surprised they lost, but the beat down was a little surprising.

Every team that has boasted a 4 game regular season sweep over a playoff opponent has won the series 25 out of 25 times. Maybe the Nets felt a little complacency. The Kang will fix that pretty quick and Kidd will adjust. If they sit Deron Williams down they can take it to 7 games

I disagree. Joe, as we know, isn't a good second round performer. I just don't see the Nets beating the Heat. Granted I haven't seen a lot of the Heat lately but i don't see where the Nets are going to gain an advantage.

[Malig]

Yeah good job joe with the final possession of an elimination game

[benhillboy]

I dont know who was guarding him for the majority of the game, but I know they put LeBron on him for the final few minutes and there were two plays, a block and a steal, that made him look pretty bad. Still, he played much better than I could've imagined in the playoffs. Just too much dead weight and wasted payroll on that squad.

I actually enjoyed watching him hit clutch shots and his outstanding post game, and y'all know how I feel about dude. Being around HOFs Pierce, Kidd, and Garnett clearly stepped his game up a level when it mattered. No shame in The King making two defensive plays late in a close out game after you dropped 34. If he can manage 17 a game next season and have a similar postseason, I wouldn't even mind some HOF ballot consideration.

[MaceCase]

He balled out but proved for the umpteenth time that your team isn't going anywhere if Joe Johnson is your best player/performer.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Joe Johnson in the 2nd half of Game 5: 10 - 13 FG . . .24 points

The rest of the Nets in the 2nd half: 9 - 27 . . . 21 points

JJ played like a SUPERSTAR tonight. Had any one of those Nets made a damn shot going down the stretch, they would be going to Game 6, and JJ would be the hero. Instead, JJ had to literally do it all, but just came up short.

Props to him tonight for playing like a superstar and making superstar type shots. Look for him to have a monster season shooting the ball next year.

[AUhawksfan]

Nice to see Joe have a good playoff, didn't want that to be his stigma and he proved himself this playoffs. They relied on him too much though and he's the only reason they got to the second round anyways.

In the end, the thing that got them this far hurt them in the final seconds.....good ol' ISO Joe Jesus. You gotta keep players moving and setting screens, even if it is a decoy.

[benhillboy]

In the end, the thing that got them this far hurt them in the final seconds.....good ol' ISO Joe Jesus. You gotta keep players moving and setting screens, even if it is a decoy.

True. I expect Kidd to be a year better, and they need to find a trade partner for Deron yesterday. They paid twice our payroll for a 2nd round 5 game sweep. They did much better than I thought they would with that horrendous start, but still a monumental failure. Ferry will be looking to take advantage of King and Prokorov in some form again.

[Guest]

Swap pick in effect for next season!

[Diesel]

Glad to see the Joe hate still exists. However, Joe did very well. The problem in game 5 were uncalled fouls. Lebron on Joe is able to foul and never be called. On the blocked shot by Lebron, there was clearly a foul before he blocked the shot. CLEARLY. On the last possession, Ray Allen hit ball first but then clearly fouled. CLEARLY. Not to mention a few other missed calls coming down the stretch. JJ didn't have help, Kidd called some bad plays, and the refs had this game in pocket for the Heat down the stretch. UNTIL THIS FIxED Game is FIXED basketball won't be real.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The hate is definitely strong, no doubt. Let them hate.

We could've used this in Game 7 in Indiana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBJJuRB3bXQ

[Diesel]

Joe had a great game 5 that was really ruined by the refs and their refusal to call Lebron for fouling, reaching in, etc.

[benhillboy]

9 Playoff teams averaged as many or more free throws attempts than the Heat. The "oh my God, the Heat never get called for fouls!" kick is getting very old. Anyone who watches LeBron enough knows his main objective when playing defense is not fouling. You seriously think Joe could manage 10 points if LeBron were assigned to him all game? Nobody from the Nets, even Kidd or Garnett, said anything about the block and steal LeBron had on Joe late they were so clean. Y'all (D and North) act as if Joe is know for getting to the line 9 or 10 times a game. Him driving against LeBrom is laughable, he's much better off trying to post him, where he did get fouls called for him on LeBron a few times in the series.

And Joe surrenderd 5 made threes out of 6 attempts in Game 5 per SportVu. Not so good closing out huh? Like Mace said, he can play out of his mind and it still wont be enough if he's your go-to guy.

Edited May 17, 2014 by benhillboy