PHOENIX -- Phoenix Suns guard Joe Johnson will not play in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night but is expected to practice Thursday and might be ready for Game 3.
The three-day layoff between games will give the injured Suns starter needed time to get ready for a possible return for Game 3 on Saturday night in San Antonio.
"That's the whole thing. That's why we're not rushing him," coach Mike D'Antoni said after the Suns practiced on Monday. "We've got to get him under the gun and see how he plays, because we can't just throw him out there and say, 'Oh my gosh, it's a disaster.' We have to, from practice, have an inkling of the way he is going to play."
On Monday evening, the Suns released a statement from team president and general manager Bryan Colangelo saying Johnson is expected to practice Thursday, his first full workout since the injury. The team will not practice on Wednesday.
Johnson has been sidelined since he fractured his left eye socket and sustained a mild concussion on May 11 in a frightening, face-first fall to the court in Game 2 of the conference semifinal series against Dallas. He underwent surgery the following day to have a metal plate inserted to keep the bones in place.
D'Antoni acknowledged that the Suns "got a little carried away" when they speculated late last week that Johnson might be back for Sunday's series opener against San Antonio, a game Phoenix lost 121-114.
"I wasn't around him a lot to be honest with you, and I kept hearing, 'Oh, he's feeling great,'" D'Antoni said. "Then I saw him and went, 'You know he's not feeling good.'"
While Johnson has taken a few shots and done some conditioning work, he hasn't had any live practice.
"We are going to be 100 percent certain before we put him into a live basketball game, where you face a lot more risk than you do just getting yourself ready to play," Colangelo said.
Johnson was not at practice on Monday. Instead, he was seeing doctors and having more adjustments done on the protective mask designed for him to wear when he does come back. There have been difficulties finding a good fit because of the changes in swelling in Johnson's cheek.
Colangelo said that Monday's evaluation by doctors determined Johnson "has progressed well since his last checkup." Another evaluation will be done before the Suns leave Friday for San Antonio, Colangelo said.
Jim Jackson moved into the starting lineup and Phoenix went on to win the Dallas series. But the deeper the Suns go into the playoffs, the more Johnson is needed.
"Just giving us more depth and more options, plus he's obviously a terrific player," Steve Nash said.
Johnson is the team's most accurate 3-point shooter and can produce points with pull-up jumpers or drives to the hoop.
"He's got that big body that can pinch in there," the Spurs' Tim Duncan said.
Johnson, who stands 6-foot-7, is averaging 19 points in the playoffs and his .565 3-point shooting percentage is tops in the NBA postseason, but he is most missed on defense, D'Antoni said.
"He's a big guy, and he can guard a lot of different people," the coach said. "That can force a team to change its game."
MercuryRoti1986 
