The play of Joe Johnson has never been flashy or otherworldly like many other playoff heroes of the past decade. He lacks breakaway speed. He doesn’t possess a tremendous vertical. Instead, he likes to square off in one-on-one matchups, like a heavyweight boxing match. Johnson would prefer to stare down his defender, then free up space by taking a dribble before executing a stepback jumper. The simplicity of his game is what makes “Iso Joe” such an exciting player to root for this postseason.
His 16-year NBA career has largely been defined by stunning scoring performances, lucrative contracts, and lack of postseason hardware.