Charlotte Hornets expect increased ‘iso’ games from Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson

When it comes to the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson in the playoffs, the Charlotte Hornets are expecting them to be the same players they’ve always been in this series.

Wade and Johnson have long been known for their isolation game. And although the frequency is down for both as they get older, Charlotte is preparing for it entering Sunday’s Game 1 of the first round of the playoffs.

“You can use shot clock, you can make fewer possessions,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said of using isolation offense. “It’s the same with us. Wade and Joe Johnson, they’ve both been iso guys their whole career, and we have to be ready for that.”

The burden to cover these two veterans in isolation will likely fall on Courtney Lee for Wade and Nic Batum for Johnson.

Isolation occurs in the NBA when a player goes one-on-one with a defender while the ball-handler’s teammates draw the other defenders away. This type of play doesn’t happen as much as it once did, but it can be found with higher frequency in the playoffs.

Wade was only in isolation 11 percent of the time this season, and he shot just 35.7 percent in those plays. But he’s sure to do more of it in the playoffs.

“I think so. I think they’ll look for him a lot more to create for himself and others in the offense,” said Lee, a seven-year veteran. “We’re going to do a good job of making those looks tough. It’s a team game for us on the defensive end. We’ll scheme as a unit to try to slow them down.

“He’ll just be aggressive, trying to be the playmaker that he is and every play trying to attack and lead his team to victory. It’s going to be our job to slow him down and make his looks tough, especially guys on the perimeter.”

Slowing down the Heat shouldn’t be a tough task. Miami runs one of the slower offenses in the league in terms of possessions. The Heat ranked 25th out of 30 teams in pace this season.

Batum will likely get Johnson duties at small forward. Batum missed the regular-season finale against Orlando with a sprained left ankle, but he said Friday that he’ll be fine for Sunday’s game.

Once known around the league as “Iso Joe,” Johnson presents a challenge for the Hornets. While Charlotte has split the past eight games in two seasons against the Heat, the Hornets have only played against Miami with Johnson once.

Since joining the Heat in February, Johnson has been in isolation just 12.1 percent of the time, far down from his high-water mark of 36.8 percent in 2009-10.

But Johnson, 34, is shooting 52 percent in iso this season. That, along with 1.06 points per possession, ranks in the top 15 in the league among players who qualify.

“Joe is one of the best one-on-one players in this league,” said Batum, who spent extra time Friday putting up shots to get back into a rhythm. “He’s still got some game. He can change a game within five minutes. He can score like 20 points in one half if he wants to. He’s a great shooter on the floor for them, and he brings experience too.”

Clifford also noted that Johnson is great in the pick-and-roll game, which can cause a problem for the Hornets. At 6-foot-8, Batum will have a tougher time getting over the screener on a pick than a smaller guard would.

Twenty-seven percent of Johnson’s shots for the Heat have come off pick-and-rolls, and he has been a 53-percent shooter.

The Hornets and Batum will be ready, though. Charlotte had the eighth-best defense in the league this season.

If you’re looking for a run-and-gun series, this likely won’t be for you.

“The one thing that you can always do is, you can always slow a game down in the NBA,” Clifford said. “The guys are so good and organized. There are a lot fewer isos than there used to be. But when people say the iso’s gone … the iso is a big part of playoff basketball.”

Draft order finalized

The Hornets will have the 22^nd selection in the 2016 NBA draft, which is slated for June 23.

The draft order was determined Friday after the league worked out tiebreakers with teams sharing the same record.

Charlotte (48-34) will pick after Atlanta and before Boston and Miami. All four teams have the same record.

This will be the latest Charlotte has had a first-round pick in a draft since 1995 when the Hornets took UCLA center George Zidek with the 22^nd pick.

Draft order finalized

The Hornets will have the 22^nd selection in the 2016 NBA draft, which is slated for June 23.

The draft order was determined Friday after the league worked out tiebreakers with teams sharing the same record.

Charlotte (48-34) will pick after Atlanta and before Boston and Miami. All four teams have the same record.

This will be the latest Charlotte has had a first-round pick in a draft since 1995 when the Hornets took UCLA center George Zidek with the 22^nd pick.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Charlotte Hornets expect increased ‘iso’ games from Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson."