Is Joe Johnson already worn out?

[HMFFL]

Joe Johnson’s absence at Hawks’ practice Monday was understandable for his teammates.

If anyone needed an extra day off it’s their captain and All-Star. Johnson draws superstar attention from opposing defenses but rarely enjoys the fruits of a superstar’s labor.

Johnson shot just 1-for-8 from the floor and scored a season-low four points in Saturday’s loss in Cleveland while playing on a sore foot. The injury sent him to the foot doctor Monday to get “his orthotics adjusted,” according to Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

Woodson said he expects Johnson will practice today and play Wednesday against Milwaukee at Philips Arena.

“He needs a couple days off,” Hawks center Al Horford said after practice of Johnson. “I could tell before the game. He said he could barely run. I said to him, ‘Dude, are you sure want to play like that?’ But you know Joe, he’s always going to try and play. But you could see he had no lift on his shot and stuff like that. He was hurt. It was obvious.”

While Johnson toils as one of the league’s offensive juggernauts — he has four 30-point games already — he rarely reaps the benefits of being among the NBA’s elite.

Of the top 10 scorers in the league — Johnson ranks eighth with 24 points per night — he and San Antonio point guard Tony Parker average the fewest free throw attempts (5.4). Others like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and even New Jersey’s Devin Harris average more than twice as many. Parker has played in just five games due to an ankle injury.

“You can’t protect him because it is what it is,” Woodson said. “The good players, you try to go at them like LeBron and Kobe and Wade and all those guys. I’m sure they’re seeing double and triple teams. And it’s just a part of it. Joe’s been a workhorse for us since he’s been here, so I don’t foresee any of that changing.

“All you can do is try to put him in a position to where he gets fouled and the officials blow the whistle. I know some nights he gets frustrated but he has to keep playing and fight through it. He has to keep doing the same things he’s doing and I think at some point things will break his way, at least I hope that’s the case.”

The Hawks want to get through the early grind of the season with its core group returning to health. That includes Johnson and Horford (sprained ankle) as well as starting power forward Josh Smith, who has played just four games this season (high ankle sprain).

“I’d rather we deal with this now as opposed to later,” said Smith, who participated in limited portions of Monday’s practice. “I think we started so well that we gave ourselves a little cushion to deal with anything like this might have come up early on. But we can’t afford to get too many guys banged up.

“We need a chance to get back as close to full strength as possible going forward, because the more we have guys out the harder we’re leaning on the healthy guys we do have. And that’s tough for anybody to deal with.”

Before the season Woodson warned that one of the biggest factors in any team’s success is being able to stay as healthy as possible throughout the season.

The Hawks didn’t have to deal with a significant injury to one of their rotation players last season and won just 37 games.

“Listen, you’re lucky if you stay healthy,” Woodson said. “But the reality is it’s just a part of the game. The good thing for us is I think we have enough to be safe when somebody does go down. We have enough guys to hang in there with us to continue to play at a high level. Because you just can’t have two or three guys go down at the same time.”

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[tontoz]

Johnson shot just 1-for-8 from the floor and scored a season-low four points in Saturday’s loss in Cleveland while playing on a sore foot. The injury sent him to the foot doctor Monday to get “his orthotics adjusted,” according to Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

So what is wrong with it? I would think we would get more details to an injury to our leading scorer.

[JoshB914]

Joe had a bad game against the Cavs, but who didn't? It's not like we had a chance there anyway.

I'm sure he'll be fine for Wednesday with a couple of days off.

And am I being a homer here or does Joe get NO CALLS whatsoever from the refs? I feel like he gets totally screwed at least a couple of times a game by the officials when he goes to the hole.

[conleyorbust]

As a caution, I'd like to see less play early run through Joe. Even if it costs us some games. We can't afford Joe getting the sort of calf injury he had.

[HMFFL]

Must be the injury. It'd be nice to really know what's going on here because Joe needs to perform at a high level and produce against the Bucks after coming off three days of rest. Will see tomorrow.

[Master8492]

Another subpar game from Joe. Hawks got the win is what matters though.

Heard on FSN that Josh won't be back until the Washington game at the earliest so it's going to be tough getting a win at Toronto playing shootout basketball. I'd say take it easy for that game and try to beat Washington.