Hawks' Johnson recalls rookie year with Celtics

Boston — Joe Johnson's time in a Boston uniform was so brief — 49 games during his rookie season — that he barely remembers the particulars.

"I don't remember where I lived or really anything else about it," said Johnson, the 10th pick in the 2001 NBA draft. "It was a blur. It went so fast I don't remember a lot, other than them giving me a chance to play in the league. Other than that, it was a short stint."

If Johnson and his Hawks teammates aren't careful, their time in the playoffs will suffer the same fate.

After being crushed by 23 points by the Celtics in Game 1 Sunday, the Hawks are back at TD Banknorth Garden Wednesday night for Game 2.

That deer-in-the-headlights look that was so prevalent Sunday has to go away, the Hawks captain and All-Star said. And fast.

"You can't take this opportunity for granted," Johnson said. "You don't know when you'll make it back to this point. I really think we need to cherish this. Especially in Game 2, we've got to come out with a lot more intensity from the jump. We can't let them come out and jump on us again. It's too hard to come back from that, you expend too much energy, especially in the playoffs."

Johnson wasn't sure what was in his future when Boston traded him to Phoenix, which in hindsight turned out to be one of the best moves for his career, halfway through his rookie season.

He was a starter early but fell out of favor with the coaching staff after the All-Star break. He was the final piece of a five-player deal that brought Tony Delk and Rodney Rogers to the Celtics, who would eventually play in the Eastern Conference finals.

Johnson was one of three rookies the Celtics considered using in the deal (Kedrick Brown and Joe Forte were the others) and the only one of the three still in the league.

"When you're young and just starting out in the league, you don't know what to expect," Johnson said. "I think I was at the rookie game [during All-Star Weekend] when I first heard there were rumors out there about me getting traded. So that shows you how crazy it can be."

Crazy was still around the corner.

Johnson played a vital role on a Suns team that made it to the Western Conference finals in the 2004-05 season, losing to San Antonio. Johnson came to the Hawks following that season in the now infamous sign-and-trade deal that triggered an ownership battle that continues today.

So what looked like the first of many trips deep into the playoffs with a stacked Suns team quickly turned into Johnson being the center of a tumultuous rebuilding effort with the Hawks. It has been a franchise rehabilitation project that hasn't come together with a playoff berth until now.

"It's precious, man," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "Precious. Anything can change, injuries, upheaval, players coming and going, or whatever, when you're talking about trying to build a team and making the playoffs. That's why I couldn't be happier for a group of guys that made a commitment in training camp and going through that and the regular season and holding tight to realize what they set out to do.

"And it's tough, the way Joe went from a contender in Phoenix to our situation here. I know because I did the same thing, going from our championship season in Detroit to the challenge we had here. Not every coach or player in this league gets an opportunity to compete at this level. You can't treat it like an every-day thing because it can be snatched away at any time."

Hawks point guard Mike Bibby is a member of the club, too, having experienced both sides of being traded to a good/bad situation.

He was traded from an expansion team in Vancouver to a budding Western Conference power in Sacramento, where he helped lead the Kings deep into the playoffs, only to be traded again in February to a Hawks team starved for a postseason trip.

"I know, just like Joe does, that you don't always get a second chance at doing this," Bibby said. "Game 1 is in the past. But Game 2 and everything beyond that is going to be what we make of it."