Remember Iso Joe?
Atlanta fans did not fondly remember former Hawks guard Joe Johnson, a.k.a Iso Joe for his penchant to go one-on-one and not play team basketball during his Atlanta tenure. Trading him to New Jersey was one of the key moves by Danny Ferry upon becoming general manager that helped turn around the Hawks.
Each time Johnson touched the ball, a chorus of boos rose from the crowd, just as it was when he was introduced by Philips Arena announcer Ryan Cameron upon re-entering the game with 9:02 left in the second quarter.
Johnson, who played for Atlanta from 2005-12 before being traded to the Nets for Jordan Farmar, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, Johan Petro, DeShawn Stevenson, a 2013 first-round draft pick and a 2017 second-round pick, is one of 10 current NBA players to appear in the playoffs every year since the 2007-08 season.
He remains seventh in Hawks franchise history with 47 postseason appearances for the team and is third in playoff scoring (846 points) behind Dominique Wilkins (1,345) and Lou Hudson (894).
Fan chatter
Hawks fans were somewhat slow to arrive for Game 1 and weather was only part of the reason.
With the Sweetwater 420 Festival winding down in nearby Centennial Olympic Park, traffic near Philips Arena was more cluttered than usual on a Sunday afternoon.
Add rain, slick road conditions and a handful of accidents on nearby freeways and secondary streets to the equation and the lower bowl in Philips was no more than half-full along the sidelines even by the midway point of the first quarter.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was introduced and booed lightly.
Injury report
Hawks center Al Horford dislocated a pinkie finger on his right hand in the fourth quarter and went the lockerroom. He returned shortly, sat briefly on the bench icing on it, but re-entered the game with the 5:52 to play.
Twitterati
Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps (Bontemps covers the Nets for the New York Post)
Charles Barkley says people are afraid to say Danny Ferry has done a good job, says he hopes the Hawks general manager gets his job back.
He said it
"My advice to (Ferry, on an indefinite leave of absence) has simply been, 'Danny, do what you need to do to clear your name because you don't want to be labeled as being racist in your history.' I've known racism. I've known it quite well. And I told Danny that this is all really a shame because we need more people like him in the league." — Wayne Embry, 78, who became the NBA's first black general manager when Milwaukee appointed him to the position in 1972, as quoted by The New York Times.
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