He has unfurled the “Big L” sign twice during the regular season, including two weeks ago when his illegitimate 3-pointer that Patrick Ewing illegally steered in beat the Pacers.
Larry Johnson didn’t need Ewing on this one. For the most part, LJ likes to save the arm sign for this time, playoff time.
And there was no more appropriate time to go into his “L” routine than with 42.8 seconds remaining in yesterday’s first-round opener vs. the Raptors when he rattled home an open 3-pointer from 25 feet out on the right wing to break the 85-all tie and send the Knicks to a closer-than-it-should-have-been 92-88 victory.
“I told Rick [Brunson] I’ll pull it out for the playoffs,” Johnson said. “Rick would get on me for doing it sooner.”
Third-string point guard Rick Brunson was the one who invented the “L” sign last season that LJ flashed often during the playoffs after hitting big shots.
Johnson, who finished with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, was very eager to credit his teammates for giving him a look. Patrick Ewing was double-teamed in the low post when he whipped it out to the perimeter for Latrell Sprewell, who swung it right to Johnson.
“I had time to look at the rim before I let it go.” Johnson said. “Credit them. When I left my hand I knew it was good. I shot two earlier that were super, super short. When I let that go, it felt really good.”
Johnson clearly had an extra bounce on the offensive end yesterday after wilting down the stretch of the regular season, mostly due to back and foot woes. In the first period, he whirled past Antonio Davis for an easy layup – an athletic spin that the Knicks haven’t seen since the opening two months. Johnson finished the season averaging a career-low 10.4 points.
“He is very underrated because he doesn’t put up gaudy numbers [anymore],” Jeff Van Gundy said. “He plays very good basketball and he plays opportunity basketball. I am just happy because there is no one who prepares himself more than Larry.”
And Van Gundy hopes this spring will be filled with more of those kind of L’s
“We got a team that can win a championship here,” Johnson said. “We don’t want no setbacks. The first game of a five-game series is most critical.”