Hawks’ Johnson back from elbow surgery
Hawks guard Joe Johnson will return to the lineup two weeks ahead of schedule after having right elbow surgery. Th efour-time All-Star will start Friday night against Charlotte at Philips Arena.
“The therapy just went great, the swelling’s gone down,” Johnson said. “We’ve just been shooting (with) no pain. It’s just feeling great, so I just didn’t feel like it was necessary to wait another two weeks and leave the guys hanging out there like that when I can really get out there and give ‘em everything I got.”
Johnson had surgery to remove a loose body from his elbow at the beginning of December. He had been expected to be out four to six weeks. His return was so unexpected that coach Larry Drew thought trainer Wally Blase was kidding when he told Drew that Johnson could go Friday.
The Hawks went 5-4 in his absence but have lost three of the last four.
The return comes at a fortuitous time. Guard Jamal Crawford will miss his second consecutive game with a back injury.
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217 comments Add your comment
cp
December 17th, 2010
9:30 pm
what good games have we forgotten because he has had none this year. Mo is always in a slump
Najeh Davenpoop
December 17th, 2010
9:30 pm
Who the hell is Dominic McGuire and why are the Hawks making him look like Dennis Rodman?
Najeh Davenpoop
December 17th, 2010
9:31 pm
Mo used to be a reliable outside shooter and a pretty decent defender considering that he was always matched up against someone bigger than him. This season he has done neither of those things consistently.
J.J.M.
December 17th, 2010
9:32 pm
hawks making this harder then it should be
Blast
December 17th, 2010
9:32 pm
I love Josh, but what is he doing?
Najeh Davenpoop
December 17th, 2010
9:32 pm
Is Iso-Joe really a good plan for crunch time in his first game back?
J.J.M.
December 17th, 2010
9:33 pm
lol they not even running LD offense
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
9:34 pm
Once again, Horford doesn’t have any free throw attempts so far.
ATL FAN
December 17th, 2010
9:35 pm
!!!!!!!!!!!
ATL FAN
December 17th, 2010
9:35 pm
!!!!!!!!!
Sautee
December 17th, 2010
9:37 pm
Ramon,
Agreed, but at least he IS banging more tonight. Good to see.
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
9:37 pm
You can say what you want about Joe, but you have to admit that it shows a lot of heart for him to come back so soon.
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
9:38 pm
Yeah he is. I wish LD would add Zo or someone to the staff who actually scored on the low block.
bigdave
December 17th, 2010
9:38 pm
if Josh is going to pick up your man.. you have to cover his Joe..
J.J.M.
December 17th, 2010
9:39 pm
easyyyy baskets by the bibcats…marvin still cant catch
J.J.M.
December 17th, 2010
9:40 pm
smh marvin
Blast
December 17th, 2010
9:41 pm
JJM
I know we live in the present. But the NBA is not built on the present. It is built on continuity that evolved from the past. Example: San Antonio Spurs. So you cannot win an NBA game with high schoolers.
bigdave
December 17th, 2010
9:41 pm
thats a good shot..
if he hits it then they’re talking about what a good shot it was..
bigdave
December 17th, 2010
9:42 pm
good foul
ATL FAN
December 17th, 2010
9:42 pm
Dominique says “I’ll tell you what…” wayyy too much
J.J.M.
December 17th, 2010
9:43 pm
in all sports its about “what have you done for me lately” mo evans has not done anything point blank
terrell
December 17th, 2010
9:43 pm
Motion offense?
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
9:43 pm
I haven’t seen most of the game (been spending time with family). But Marvin is playing acceptable tonight.
ATL FAN
December 17th, 2010
9:45 pm
Nice up and under
bigdave
December 17th, 2010
9:45 pm
why wasnt Marvin looking to score.. instead, he looked for Joe immediately..
good lay though..
Najeh Davenpoop
December 17th, 2010
9:46 pm
I’ll tell you what, if you look at his nimbers, it’s clear that last shot was a heat check.
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
9:47 pm
When you watch Charlotte’s offense, its funny how much you can see Woody coaching philosophy coming from LB. Larry Brown doesn’t even seem like he coaches offense some games.
ATL FAN
December 17th, 2010
9:47 pm
JJM,
Surgery is surgery, and to be able to come back from elbow surgery in two weeks and play to a near full level is incredible.
cp
December 17th, 2010
9:47 pm
Josh is shooting too many jumpers. Its ugly but a win is a win
Sautee
December 17th, 2010
9:48 pm
Nice poise by Horford with short clock. Good find.
Najeh Davenpoop
December 17th, 2010
9:48 pm
Nice to get another win, but it’s yet another win where the same caliber of play would get them murdered against a good team. 18 offensive rebounds for Charlotte and 8 free throw attempts for the entire Hawks team is pretty sh-tty.
Quick Healing Joe | From the Highlight Factory
December 17th, 2010
9:49 pm
[...] spoke with Michael Cunningham of the AJC before the [...]
J.J.M.
December 17th, 2010
9:49 pm
ATL FAN what are you talking about I said nothing about elbow surgery
J.J.M.
December 17th, 2010
9:52 pm
lmao pape and that same black suit
Blast
December 17th, 2010
9:54 pm
I agree. Mo has not done anything this season. But he is still a Hawk signed till end of this season. I know folks have been posting trade scenarios involving Mo and Marvin and who know else, but what exactly do you want Hawks to do with Mo?
Legitimate trade scenarios, now. Not fantasy GM.
Hawks fans, I’m out.
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
9:56 pm
JJM, I’m telling you, he wears that suit more than Peter Griffin wear’s the same green pants and white shirt, lol
O'Brien
December 17th, 2010
10:00 pm
Sautee,
Al did some banging tonight
I give JJ credit for being so durable, and willing to come back so quick. But he picked up right where he left off. He went 1-6 from 3. That makes him 22-88 on the year (25%).
As much I appreciate the win, I’m with Najeh. If the Hawks played the same way against a winning team, they probably lose this game. Outscored by 5 in the 4th, and giving up 18 offensive rebounds.
But we need all the wins we can get, even if its against bad teams.
Sautee
December 17th, 2010
10:01 pm
Only two minutes for Zaza. Is LD opening his eyes?
If so, let’s see Mo for only two minutes next game.
bigdave
December 17th, 2010
10:03 pm
Hawks @ 1..
Falcons @ 4..
beautiful Sunday..
Sautee
December 17th, 2010
10:04 pm
O’B,
Yes he did, but I’d like to see more. Let’s see if we go big again vs. the Nets. He’ll have to bang with Humphries and keep him off the boards.
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
10:09 pm
Sautee and O’B, I think when opponents get finished going against Horford, they should be so sore and tired that they can barely walk to their cars. I think Horford may be too much of a good guy. As I said, I think it all changed after the hard foul on TJ Ford in Toronto Al’s rookie season.
Ramon
December 17th, 2010
10:10 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaZdJzsHeZk
Every since that play, he hasn’t been as physical.
Jae Evolution
December 17th, 2010
10:18 pm
Wow never knew Horford caused that injury to TJ Ford.
YoDaddy
December 17th, 2010
10:21 pm
We shoot too many jumpshots. We’re a finesse team hate to say it. Nobody wants to take it to the rim but we have so many people that love their mid range jumper instead of being aggressive and taking it to the basket. We have all the athleticism in the world but no aggressiveness. Take the damn ball to the rim and exploit the athleticism. We are wasting it. If we start doing that we’ll be unstoppable. I don’t care if we rack up 5 charges per game it needs to be done.
We run the pick and roll, where the dribbler has no intention of turning the corner and scoring…we bail the defense out constantly with the ball holding and long jumpshots. I’d rather have ISO Joe than to have Al, Powell, or Josh holding the ball at the 3 point line for 10 seconds every play. We are the only team in the league that has the 4 and 5 handle the ball so much.
YoDaddy
December 17th, 2010
10:28 pm
Realistically…we can trade Mo Evans for a 2nd round draft pick….he brings absolutely nothing to the table in my opinion. He airballed a 2 ft shot…way worse than what Joel Anthony did a few weeks back.
But the thing is that I don’t remember him being this terrible. Every shot he puts up feels like a prayer nowadays and his jumpshot is SuperUgly. His defense is okay but he can’t even handle the ball or get to the rim. I’d much rather have Jordan Crawford get some burn because at least he is a serious threat to score.
Jae Evolution
December 17th, 2010
10:30 pm
Kyle Lowry 15 points, 5 steals, and 16 assists for the Rockets, we need to get this kid over here he is a STUD.
He has been playing out of his mind ever since Aaron Brooks went down.
northcyde
December 17th, 2010
10:33 pm
** clapping **
Way to close out the game Marvin
Section 303
December 17th, 2010
11:00 pm
Just got back from the game. I’m just glad they won. Had a bad feeling about this one. Charlotte is not a good team. I can’t believe they took Boston to the wire a few days ago. Captain Jack is their only player right now. Diaw looks like he is 20-25 lbs overweight.
Gotta hand it to Joe. I’m still plenty annoyed about “I could care less”, but you have to give him props for coming back early. His shot is still sh#t, but I thought he did a good job moving the ball and he played good D. He was banging pretty hard on the block with Diaw, during a late game defensive series. After several bumps, Joe stopped him and secured the ball.
I’m trying to be a fan of that guy’s again. Tonight was a good step. I’m impressed he came back so early. Tough guy, no doubt. Just needs to stop being a douche in interviews.
Marvin! It was not a bad pick (the poster) must be stroking it tonight, since Marvin knocked down the late jumpers.
O'Brien
December 17th, 2010
11:43 pm
IMO, this team is slowly becoming more and more finesse. We need to be more physical. I would like to see more banging, more hard fouls etc. But our guys are too nice.
So the media was all over NYK for the last 2 weeks. But they are back down to earth. Losing 2 games at home to Boston (although it was close) and being blown out by Miami.
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
December 17th, 2010
11:53 pm
Great to see Joe show some resilience and come back early from surgery.
@ Section 303, he may be a douche bag interviews but he is a Hawks douche bag for years to come.