The Brooklyn Nets could point to several missed opportunities throughout their series with the Chicago Bulls that, had they broke just a bit differently, would have the team in the second round right now. But if the conversation is just limited to Game 7, the shooting guard matchup was really where it all went wrong.
Former All Star and one of the highest-paid players in the league Joe Johnson shot just 2 for 14 and 1 for 9 from three-point range in Game 7. His counterpart on the Bulls, Marco Belinelli, acquired off of the scrap heap in the offseason, had 24 points on 8 for 14 shooting.
"Johnson had just two back-to-back awful possessions (in the fourth), as it got to the point where you had to wonder whether he was best served on the bench," wrote Tom Lorenzo of NetsDaily. "At the nine-minute mark in the fourth, Johnson was 2-of-10 for six points with three turnovers."
Backup shooting guard MarShon Brooks made both of his shots attempts, but only received eight minutes of playing time.
More from SB Nation:
• Flannery: In praise of the Knicks
• Celtics head off into great unknown
• Z-Bo and Griffin wrestle again
• Kobe's mad his mom sold his high school junk
• Stephen Curry's 10 best shots of the playoffs
• Longform: The secret world of NBA daps