Hawks rookie Ivan Johnson arrived in the NBA with baggage related to past anger-management issues.
Johnson generally had managed to keep his temper in check this season until coach Larry Drew suspended Johnson for one game and fined him for a verbal altercation on the bench during the Hawks’ game at Boston on Wednesday. Johnson, 28, said the incident doesn’t represent a step back in his progress.
“It’s things I’ve got to learn in the league, how to channel my anger,” Johnson said. “It’s still going good. It’s just the heat of the moment, man. I’m so competitive in a game that you want to win, you don’t want no mistakes to happen.”
Johnson was sent home before the Hawks played at Orlando on Friday night. He re-joined the team for practice Saturday, and Drew said Johnson would face no restrictions in playing time moving forward.
Drew said he had a “good conversation” with Johnson both before the Hawks traveled from Boston to Orlando and again before Johnson returned to Atlanta on Friday. By Saturday, Drew was ribbing Johnson after beating him in a game of H-O-R-S-E before practice.
“He’s back to full status,” Drew said. “He came in and gave me a big hug this morning.”
In spite of his talent Johnson didn’t make it to the NBA until he was 27 years old in large part because of his temper.
Johnson lasted one season at the University of Oregon after he clashed with his coach. He was later banned from the Korean Basketball League for a series of incidents that the league termed poor sportsmanship, culminating with allegedly making an obscene gesture an a game official.
Johnson was a standout in the NBA Development League last season, but led the league in technical fouls and eventually was benched by his coach with the Erie BayHawks. Johnson has three technical fouls this season; the league rescinded another technical after a standard review.
Pachulia out
Hawks center Zaza Pachulia was ruled out for the next two games after he suffered what the team said is a mild foot sprain during the Hawks’ 109-81 victory at Orlando. Pachulia will sit out Sunday’s game against the Raptors at Philips Arena and the rematch Monday at Toronto.
Drew didn’t say which starting lineup he would use without his starting center. Jason Collins and Erick Dampier are the other two healthy centers. Drew also could start Johnson as part of a “small” lineup.
Hawks starters Josh Smith (knee) and Joe Johnson (rest) received treatment during practice Saturday. Both are expected to play against Toronto.
“At this point it is more about maintenance than getting the [practice] work in,” Drew said.
No pushovers
The Raptors (21-39) may be playing out the string, but they stunned the Celtics with an 84-79 victory Friday. The Hawks (35-24) moved one game ahead of Boston (34-25) for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, should the two teams meet.
“We are playing a [Raptors] team that is in position to play spoiler,” Drew said. “As I told the guys, every game is a playoff game. That’s got to be our mindset. We can’t take any team lightly.”
Entering Saturday the Hawks, who have seven games left, trailed Indiana by two games for third place in the Eastern Conference. Indiana played at Milwaukee on Saturday night.
Orlando (34-25) trails the Hawks by a game, and the Hawks own the tiebreaker by virtue of their season sweep. The Magic also will be without star center Dwight Howard for an indefinite period of time after he was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his lower back.
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