The postseason has been tough for Keldon Johnson.
Ever since winning NBA Sixth Man of the Year, he’s struggled to maintain the vitality that earned him the league honor.
This season the Spurs had seven players average scoring in double figures. *Harrison Barnes was 5 points from the Spurs having eight players in double figs, which would have been an NBA first. Ever since then, Keldon’s scoring dropped off.
In his first playoff series versus the Portland Trail Blazers, KJ averaged just over 6 points
per game.
Against the Timberwolves, he’s scored 11, 9, 11, and 4 in the first four games. Better, but not stellar.
Last night, Keldon reignited early, bringing a spark off the bench, which is saying a lot considering the game Victor Wembanyama was having.
Johnson’s signasture highlight came on his psterization of Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert.
It was vintage KJ all night as he scored 21 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He hit one three-pointer and added two steals to that viral block.
Johnson’s emergence couldn’t have come at a better time.
After sitting out the majority of three quarters in Game 4, Victor Wembanyama came out swinging, scoring 18 of his 27 points in the first quarter. He cooled considerably in the latter half of the game, leaving the Spurs looking for scoring.
Although De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper played, their participation was a game time decision. With so much uncertainty coming out of the locker room, KJ was a driving force.
It was Keldon who embraced the moment, riding that patented high energy into timeouts and ramping up his team and the crowd, just as he has done all season.
Look for Keldon to continue to bring passion to Game 6, where the Spurs head into hostile territory, returning to the City of Lakes.
A Game 6 win sends the Spurs into the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2017.
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