Johnson is essential to the Nets' winning formula.
Let's get one thing straight: Joe Johnson hasn't been making shots this year. Not at all.
It's not just that the numbers have fallen from Johnson's usual high standards. They're down for anyone. The 15th-year vet is sinking just 33 percent of his field-goal attempts and 22 percent of his threes.
Johnson, though, is still the arguable best facilitator on the Nets' roster. He's an above-average rebounding wing. And he can still defend to a degree on the other end. He has value. It just hasn't been in making shots, and nothing showed that off more than Tuesday night's 90-88 home victory over the Hawks, Johnson's former team and the squad that knocked the Nets out of the playoffs last season.