Joe Johnson.
Six games into the series, the Nets have gotten to the point where they need to run the offense through Joe Johnson on nearly every possession. He’s their leading scorer in the playoffs by a wide margin, and it’s not because they’re forcing offense to him: he’s just taking advantage of DeMar DeRozan, who doesn’t have the size or defensive acumen to hang with him. His shot chart in this series is just excellent:
Johnson is such a versatile scorer that they can throw a mix of offensive looks at the Raptors: they can use him as the roll man with Deron Williams on pick-and-rolls, they can look to post him up against smaller guards, they can set down screens to get him the ball in the middle of the floor where it’s harder to send double-teams, or they can keep him lurking on the weak side for open three-pointers like the one he hit to tie Game 5 at 101.
If the Nets can’t get Johnson going, or they can’t hit their open shots created by Johnson getting double-teamed, They’re in for a long night.
