Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum on Wednesday sparked the Boston Celtics over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but it was the return of their new 40-year-old teammate Joe Johnson that stole the show.
Brown scored 34 points to lead the Celtics past the visiting Cavaliers 111-101, while Tatum added 18, and Robert Williams III had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
With the Celtics down seven players due to COVID-19, they turned to 17-year NBA veteran Johnson — who had not played in the league since 2018 — and 15-year NBA guard C.J. Miles to fill out the roster and provide some wisdom to Boston’s current superstars.
Photo: David Butler II-USA TODAY
“Adding some older voices can’t hurt,” Brown said. “It can only help.”
Johnson, who was drafted 10th overall by the Celtics in the 2001 NBA Draft, managed only two points in two minutes on the court, but received huge applause for his comeback efforts.
Before the game, the Celtics signed Johnson to a 10-day contract.
The crowd chanted: “We want Joe” and broke into a loud cheer when he got off the bench and came into the game.
“It’s great to be back here 20 years later. It has been amazing to me. Still surreal, but a lot of fun,” Johnson said.
“I really appreciate these Celtics fans. It was exciting to get that kind of reaction. It’s special,” he added.
Johnson knows people will first talk about his age.
“I don’t look at my age and say: ‘I can’t play with these guys,’” Johnson said. “I know it’s a young man’s game, but at the same time, like I said, I pay a lot of attention to my body.”
Johnson was a seven-time All-Star who averaged 16 points in 1,276 prior games with Boston, the Atlanta Hawks, the Phoenix Suns, the Brooklyn Nets, the Miami Heat, the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets.
He sees his role as advising Brown and Tatum as much as filling out the roster.
“Staying in their ear, making sure they know what they have to do for us to be victorious night in and night out,” Johnson said.
Separately, the NBA on Wednesday said that media and in-person league personnel functioning in near proximity to teams and players on game day must receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot by Wednesday next week.
In a memo to NBA executives and the league board of governors, senior vice president for player matters David Weiss outlined the updated protocol, saying that it applies to all non-player personnel eligible to receive a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as outlined by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The order covers “league staff and vendors who in their official capacities interact in person with any player” within 4.5m, including referees, league operations, player development, team and player marketing, communications and NBA photos.
The NBA said the decision was made “based on discussions with the NBA’s infectious disease and other medical experts, CDC guidance and initial data showing substantially reduced protection from the Omicron variant [of SARS-CoV-2] absent a booster.”
A nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases has hit the NBA hard this month, after only 17 positives in October and last month combined. More than 115 positive tests were recorded in players in the first 21 days of this month.
The Toronto Raptors’ contest against the Chicago Bulls was postponed because the visiting Raptors could not field the minimum eight players needed to compete due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
In other Wednesday games, it was:
‧ Magic 104, Hawks 98
‧ Bucks 126, Rockets 106
‧ Thunder 108, Nuggets 94
‧ Clippers 105, King 89
Additional reporting by AP and Reuters
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