Or should we not forget the other six games in the series, when he was so maddeningly inconsistent and, not to mention, stoic.

Johnson had 27 points to lead the Hawks to the blowout win and their first seven-game series win in 39 years. He was red-hot from downtown, with long-range three-point bombs that fell like daggers on Dwyane Wade and the upstart Heat.

But it took until Game 7 to see any signs of life from Johnson, who otherwise had a pretty quiet series as the Heat focused on him defensively. It was enough to make you wonder, as you have precious salary cap space to spend in 2010, if Johnson could be a lead dog on a championship team.

I've said no and, despite a huge performance in a big spot on Sunday, I still feel that way. In two appearances at the Garden this season, Johnson was an absolute dud. He generated zero buzz at the World's Most Famous (hey, if I'm spending max dollars I want max impact) and brought little to the game to give New York fans reason to have visions of him in orange and blue. Oh, and he did nothing to help his team (an aggregate of 11-for-29 from the floor, 0-for-8 from downtown) in a pair of losses to the Knicks.

But I am open to being convinced otherwise. Here's why:

First of all, I think Johnson too often is forced to create for himself in Mike Woodson's very basic, very unimaginative offensive system. If the Hawks aren't running, they struggle to score. Johnson gets most of his best looks as a kick-out option. But in a half-court one-on-one -- a la Ben Gordon -- he's not as effective.

He flourished in Mike D'Antoni's system with the Suns and left to take big bucks in Atlanta, where the Hawks built around him as a centerpiece and, along with Josh Smith and Mike Bibby, elevated the woeful Atlanta franchise back into a playoff team (though, let's be honest, they've hit their ceiling as a second-round team...Cavs in four).

So, if Johnson decided to leave Atlanta to play for the Knicks, one would have to believe he would do so mainly because of the system, which would be much easier on him than what Woodson has him do on a nightly basis.

Just bloggin.

* * *

* - OK, let's put down the sword for a minute and overlook the unsightly plus-minus statistic (minus-20) he put up in the seven-game series (tho he was a plus-11 in Game 7) and just congratulate Stephon Marbury for advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in his career. But any of you who claim the Knicks made a mistake and that Steph could have actually helped this team this season either don't know a thing about Basketball (and, more importantly, team chemistry) and haven't watched Marbury closely in the series with Chicago. A step slow, paralyzed by indecision and the shot has betrayed him to the point where he won't put it up anymore. But I also see a veteran who is trying to fit in and play a supporting role for the first time in his career. Doc Rivers will need to go to Marbury in a big spot eventually and Steph has to rediscover his scorer's mentality. Right now his role is primarily to spell Rondo, who absolutely dominated Derrick Rose in the latter part of that series.

* - Amid the discussion about whom Donnie Walsh may bring in to the front office one day -- Chris Mullin, Billy King and Billy Knight are the most mentioned names -- you can't overlook Denver Nuggets GM Mark Warkentien, who was named the NBA's Executive of the Year. Warkentien has been in the league for over a decade and has been part of winners everywhere he's been. Dude's also not afraid to make franchise-shaping trades, as we saw with the Chauncey Billups-Allen Iverson deal and the salary dump that sent Marcus Camby to the Clippers for a mere second rounder and giving Chris "Birdman" Andersen was a calculated risk that paid off handsomely.

* - Congrats to LeBron James, who will be named the MVP today. Wonder how many he'll win as a Knick?

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