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Fading Suns Inspired by Johnson's Return
By HOWARD BECK
Published: June 1, 2005
PHOENIX, May 31 - By all that is reasonable and rational, the Phoenix Suns should have no chance to win the Western Conference final, despite an inspired victory Monday night in San Antonio.
They still trail by three games to one, and no N.B.A. team has won a series after losing the first three games. So why are the Suns smiling, upbeat - even optimistic - heading into Game 5 here Wednesday?
For that answer, flash back three weeks ago to May 11 and the horrifying sight of Joe Johnson slamming face-first to the floor of America West Arena. The fall left Johnson, the gifted Suns swingman, with a displaced orbital fracture.
In plain English, he had broken his face. Specifically, part of his left eye socket.
Yet there was Johnson on Monday, protected by only a thin plastic shield, slicing up the Spurs' vaunted defense, muscling for rebounds and going chest to chest with Tim Duncan. Johnson scored 26 points, made 10 of 15 shots and supplied the double-teaming that helped limit Duncan to 15 points.
Phoenix defied convention and expectations all season with its small lineup and high-octane style. Now Johnson is doing the same, inspiring the Suns to think big.
"It's amazing; it's a blessing," Suns forward Shawn Marion said. "He sees we've got something special going on here, and we've got a good chance to do something."
Should the Suns win Game 5 at home, the pressure will shift to the Spurs. A Suns victory in the series remains improbable, but no more so than the fact Johnson is playing like an All-Star when, by all that is reasonable and rational, he probably should not be playing at all.
Johnson needed reconstructive surgery. He has four plates holding his face together. If he were anything but a world-class pro athlete whose team is in the playoffs, Johnson probably would not even be near the court.
"There's definitely risk," said Dr. Eli Chang, the chief of Ophthalmic, Plastic, Orbital and Reconstructive Surgery for the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California.
Chang has no involvement with Johnson's case, but he is a self-described "huge basketball fan" who has followed the story with keen professional interest. He said Johnson's recovery window of two to three weeks is reasonable. But that assessment is for the average person, not for one whose profession involves constant motion, wayward elbows and collisions with 280-pound basketball players. Chang said that the need for four plates indicates Johnson had a large fracture.
"If it was a college athlete and there was nothing on the line, I probably would have said six weeks," Chang said. "The biggest risk obviously is if he gets hit again, he's going to undo the whole thing, probably bend all the plates out of position. Anytime you have a second surgery, it's a lot harder to fix than the first surgery."
In the worst cases, a fractured orbital can lead to deformity, permanent double-vision or even blindness.
It is little wonder, then, that before Johnson came back, he had at least a few friends and family question his judgment.
"Oh, man, everybody told me to take my time," Johnson said. "A lot of people told me don't come back. "It was a tough decision. But I seen my guys out there playing hard, and I just wanted to come out and put forth the effort."
There were obvious concerns about his health, and the risk to his vision. But there were also financial considerations. Johnson is a restricted free agent this summer and any blow to his health could cost him millions of dollars.
"But I love the game of basketball," Johnson said, "so if I would have sat out, I would have felt like I was cheating myself. I came back with a lot of confidence, no doubts."
That decision, whether bold or foolish, may be the only thing that kept the Suns from being swept out of the playoffs. What made the Suns a league-leading 62-victory team was their all-out firepower, and Johnson is their most versatile scorer. He is also their best 3-point shooter and best all-around defender.
When Johnson's face hit the hardwood, Coach Mike D'Antoni said, he thought that his playoff run was over and that the team's would be soon after.
"To be honest with you, I didn't think we'd get by Dallas without him," D'Antoni said.
If the Suns somehow survive this series, Johnson's comeback will become the stuff of legend. Already, he has inspired wonder about what might have been, had he played Games 1 and 2, which the Suns lost by an average of 5 points.
"I always thought that," D'Antoni said. "But we couldn't rely on that and we should have beat them anyway.
"We just didn't quite have enough against San Antonio. This is a great team we're playing. "Right now, we have enough. Now, whether we can do it or not, that's a different question. But we have enough. We don't have an excuse now."
Original Article
By HOWARD BECK
Published: June 1, 2005
PHOENIX, May 31 - By all that is reasonable and rational, the Phoenix Suns should have no chance to win the Western Conference final, despite an inspired victory Monday night in San Antonio.
They still trail by three games to one, and no N.B.A. team has won a series after losing the first three games. So why are the Suns smiling, upbeat - even optimistic - heading into Game 5 here Wednesday?
For that answer, flash back three weeks ago to May 11 and the horrifying sight of Joe Johnson slamming face-first to the floor of America West Arena. The fall left Johnson, the gifted Suns swingman, with a displaced orbital fracture.
In plain English, he had broken his face. Specifically, part of his left eye socket.
Yet there was Johnson on Monday, protected by only a thin plastic shield, slicing up the Spurs' vaunted defense, muscling for rebounds and going chest to chest with Tim Duncan. Johnson scored 26 points, made 10 of 15 shots and supplied the double-teaming that helped limit Duncan to 15 points.
Phoenix defied convention and expectations all season with its small lineup and high-octane style. Now Johnson is doing the same, inspiring the Suns to think big.
"It's amazing; it's a blessing," Suns forward Shawn Marion said. "He sees we've got something special going on here, and we've got a good chance to do something."
Should the Suns win Game 5 at home, the pressure will shift to the Spurs. A Suns victory in the series remains improbable, but no more so than the fact Johnson is playing like an All-Star when, by all that is reasonable and rational, he probably should not be playing at all.
Johnson needed reconstructive surgery. He has four plates holding his face together. If he were anything but a world-class pro athlete whose team is in the playoffs, Johnson probably would not even be near the court.
"There's definitely risk," said Dr. Eli Chang, the chief of Ophthalmic, Plastic, Orbital and Reconstructive Surgery for the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California.
Chang has no involvement with Johnson's case, but he is a self-described "huge basketball fan" who has followed the story with keen professional interest. He said Johnson's recovery window of two to three weeks is reasonable. But that assessment is for the average person, not for one whose profession involves constant motion, wayward elbows and collisions with 280-pound basketball players. Chang said that the need for four plates indicates Johnson had a large fracture.
"If it was a college athlete and there was nothing on the line, I probably would have said six weeks," Chang said. "The biggest risk obviously is if he gets hit again, he's going to undo the whole thing, probably bend all the plates out of position. Anytime you have a second surgery, it's a lot harder to fix than the first surgery."
In the worst cases, a fractured orbital can lead to deformity, permanent double-vision or even blindness.
It is little wonder, then, that before Johnson came back, he had at least a few friends and family question his judgment.
"Oh, man, everybody told me to take my time," Johnson said. "A lot of people told me don't come back. "It was a tough decision. But I seen my guys out there playing hard, and I just wanted to come out and put forth the effort."
There were obvious concerns about his health, and the risk to his vision. But there were also financial considerations. Johnson is a restricted free agent this summer and any blow to his health could cost him millions of dollars.
"But I love the game of basketball," Johnson said, "so if I would have sat out, I would have felt like I was cheating myself. I came back with a lot of confidence, no doubts."
That decision, whether bold or foolish, may be the only thing that kept the Suns from being swept out of the playoffs. What made the Suns a league-leading 62-victory team was their all-out firepower, and Johnson is their most versatile scorer. He is also their best 3-point shooter and best all-around defender.
When Johnson's face hit the hardwood, Coach Mike D'Antoni said, he thought that his playoff run was over and that the team's would be soon after.
"To be honest with you, I didn't think we'd get by Dallas without him," D'Antoni said.
If the Suns somehow survive this series, Johnson's comeback will become the stuff of legend. Already, he has inspired wonder about what might have been, had he played Games 1 and 2, which the Suns lost by an average of 5 points.
"I always thought that," D'Antoni said. "But we couldn't rely on that and we should have beat them anyway.
"We just didn't quite have enough against San Antonio. This is a great team we're playing. "Right now, we have enough. Now, whether we can do it or not, that's a different question. But we have enough. We don't have an excuse now."
Original Article
