Phoenix Suns Forward Cameron Johnson is a Bad Man!

Don’t let the baby face fool you. Phoenix Suns forward, Cameron Johnson, is a cold-blooded killer with ice in his veins! Or at least, he’s on his way to becoming one. In last night’s nail-biting 115-114 victory over the Knicks, Johnson was electric – finishing with a career-high 38 points. If that isn’t impressive enough for you then, how about the fact that 21 of those 38 points came in the fourth quarter?

Still not impressed, huh?

How about Johnson tying a franchise record with nine three-pointers made in a game? One of which happened to be the buzzer-beating dagger that sent the Knicks back to New York with their seventh straight loss. A game winner that Johnson later referred to as the “biggest shot” of his career thus far.

With seven seconds left in the final quarter and Phoenix trailing by two, it looked as though New York had secured their first win in almost a month. Even after a missed free throw by Knicks forward Alec Burks that placed the ball back into the Suns’ possession – no one would’ve guessed that the game would have ended the way it did. With a shot that sent everyone in attendance into a frenzy, catching everyone by surprise. Everyone except Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams, of course.

“I’m not surprised he made that shot,” said Williams in the postgame press conference after complimenting Johnson’s ability to maintain his levelheadedness following an incident with Julius Randle.

We’ll get to the fight in a minute.

But as of right now, the focus is on how Cam Johnson has stepped up tremendously for the Suns — who’ve been without leading scorer Devin Booker – for a second straight game. An absence that has proven to be manageable for Phoenix, pulling off their second win in a row. Two games in which Johnson led the team in scoring. And while the Pennsylvania native has been dominant, he certainly hasn’t been by himself.

Mikal Bridges also got off to a great start, hitting 3-straight three pointers in the first quarter, finishing the game with 20 points. Cameron Payne and Jae Crowder also showed up for Phoenix. Whether it was Payne, who ended with 17 points and 16 assists, or Crowder, who finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds to go with draining a big time three-pointer for the Suns to give them a short-lived lead in late in the fourth quarter. Everything mattered and nothing was given.

Typically, games like this get chippy. With the Knicks coming off of an embarrassing outing against the Sixers where Julius Randle & co. disappeared in the second half. It was expected that they would come into Footprint Center looking to take advantage of a seemingly depleted Suns team.
Things began to escalate when Cam Johnson and Julius Randle got into a brief scuffle which resulted in Randle, who had been a major problem for the Suns in the first half, being ejected from the game.

When Jae Crowder spoke to the press after the game he explained just how Johnson-Randle incident reenergized the Suns

“Obviously, we know he can shoot and score the ball. But to have that fight and not back down, it was amazing,” said Crowder. “It gave juice and life to our team.”

Crowder also admitted that this may have been the first time Johnson’s energy had rubbed off on the team. And if this is any indication of where things could go, it definitely won’t be the last.