Cam Johnson scores 3rd straight season high in Suns’ win over Timberwolves

Phoenix Suns forward Cam Johnson went off in Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Footprint Center.

Johnson finished with a season high and game high 29 points en route to a 116-107 win for the Suns’ fifth victory in a row to bring Phoenix’s record to 6-1 on the year.

It marks the third straight game in which he’s set a new season high after scoring 16 and 19 in each of his last two contests, respectively.

Johnson did so by shooting 10-for-17 (58.8%) from the field and 7 of 11 from three-point range for a 63.6% clip. He also went 2-for-3 from the free throw line.

“Good shootaround, shots felt good all pregame. I missed the first two, but I just have guys that find me,” Johnson told reporters postgame. “I just kind of stuck with it and they started to go down. Just trying to find them in flow and keep my rhythm throughout the game. Also staying aggressive but it also helps when you have some pretty good teammates around you.”

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Johnson also added three steals, three assists, one block and one rebound just under 33 minutes played.

Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup, Johnson had been averaging 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 42.2% from the floor, 38.5% from deep and 75% from the charity stripe.

This season also marks the first in which the No. 11 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft out of North Carolina has been an everyday starter in place of Jae Crowder.

“I just think he is getting more comfortable with the role. … I thought he did a really good job of fighting and just making sure that (Karl-Anthony Towns) didn’t get where he wanted to get to, to initially start the play and then offensively, he was really aggressive,” head coach Monty Williams told reporters postgame.

“After the second part of the first quarter, we were like, ‘dude, go.’ Everybody was telling him to shoot the ball and then he got going a little bit tonight. He has that ability, I keep saying this about him, but he’s more than a shooter. He has the ability on offense to make plays at the rim, in the mid-range, he’s a really good passer, but we just want him to play free and that’s what we saw tonight.”

Johnson finished in third place for the 2021-22 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.

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