INDIANAPOLIS – Jeff McInnis, Jacque Vaughn, Doug Overton, Robert Pack, Travis Best, Zoran Planinic, Anthony Goldwire, Chris Childs, Derrick Zimmerman, plus at times Lucious Harris, Kerry Kittles and Brandon Armstrong.
No, it’s not the Hoboken phone book. It’s the guys the Nets have tried as the backup point guard to Jason Kidd since Anthony Johnson left. Johnson remembered about half of them.
After last night, the Nets never will forget Johnson.
Johnson torched his former team for 25 points – his career playoff high – delivering 13 of them in the fourth quarter, to help the Pacers to a 107-95 victory and a 2-1 series lead in the opening round of their playoff series.
“I was just going out there trying to be aggressive. J.O. had it going and that helped get me open,” said Johnson, who was 8-of-13 from the floor in his leading role for the Pacers – a far cry from his Nets assignments.
“Very difficult. People kind of underestimate it,” Johnson said of backing up Kidd. “J plays at such a high level, that [as] a backup, there is no way to match his intensity. If you could, you wouldn’t be a backup. And you would be making lots of money if you played at JKidd’s level. It’s difficult playing in that shadow.”
Johnson had vaulted to the forefront of the series two days ago using words instead of his all-around play. Johnson said his Game 2 altercation with Vince Carter showed Carter trying to be tough “and we all know he isn’t.” Those words seemed to fire up the Nets, if not Carter.
“It doesn’t do anything. It makes me laugh,” Carter shrugged of Johnson’s charge. “OK. Fine. Whatever. Moving on.”
Johnson, the Game 1 hero who sank the Nets with two FTs at :00.9, insisted his tough act remark was not a glove slap in the face.
“I wasn’t necessarily challenging Vince. I just know that he is not going to put himself in a position to receive technicals or get ejected with his trash talking,” Johnson said.