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Player Spotlight: James Johnson (2/13/17)

HEAT.com’s player spotlight for this past week features James Johnson.

Miami’s most versatile player was at it again, as Johnson helped the squad extend its winning streak to 13 before eventually falling to the 76ers on Saturday night. To put it simply, Johnson had the full repertoire on display over the HEAT’s last four contests. Time and time again, the forward initiated offense and routinely got a step on his man while attacking the basket. When Johnson wasn’t taking it to the hole or posting-up, he was knocking down in-rhythm pull-up jumpers. In fact, the 29-year-old shot 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) on such looks over his last four. That balanced approach kept the opposition on its toes, which led to Johnson getting to the free throw line more often than any other HEAT player this past week.

While Johnson scored at least 20 points in three straight games for the first time in his career and was fun to watch with the ball in his hands, he also continued his strong play on the defensive end with good individual and help-side defense. As such, he led the team with eight blocks and an 11.1 net rating this past week.

Johnson’s best performance came on February 10 against the Nets when he scored 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked three shots, dished out two assists and tallied a plus-17 rating. Check out highlights from that game and more in the video below.