PHOENIX SUNS
Puff Johnson, younger brother of Suns’ Cam, breaks out in NCAA title game
It’s easy to see how North Carolina Tar Heels sophomore Puff Johnson is the younger brother of the Phoenix Suns’ Cam Johnson not only by how similar they look but how they play basketball.
Puff, like his brother Cam, has a knack for making plays in multiple facets of the game and it showed in the NCAA National Championship against Kansas on Monday.
The sophomore forward played sparingly for UNC last year, amounting to only 58 minutes before carving out a slim role off the bench this year for 10.0 minutes a night.
Johnson had only scored 47 total points entering the NCAA Tournament before a breakout performance in the title game.
He tied his career high of six rebounds and added 11 points as UNC’s lone bench player in the game.
Johnson capped the Tar Heels’ big first half with a putback.
TAR HEELS ARE UP BIG‼️@UNC_Basketball leads Kansas by 15 at halftime #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/F1JPrxk7W2
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2022
He then racked up nine of his 11 points in the second half. Johnson drilled a 3 before taking a charge the next possession.
🗣 PUFF ON BOTH ENDS
Davis is LOVING IT.@UNC_Basketball | #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/uZlgtioIFs
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 5, 2022
He also had a great finish in transition.
HOW PUFF?? HOW? pic.twitter.com/VKTYcH4jct
— SLAM University (@slam_university) April 5, 2022
Suns Twitter took it upon themselves to root on Puff.
PUFFFFF !!!
— Mikal Bridges (@mikal_bridges) April 5, 2022
PUUUUUFFFFFFF!!
— Kevin Ray (@kray1voice) April 5, 2022
I want Puff in a Suns jersey…
— Patrick Breen 🌵 (@pjbreenphoto) April 5, 2022
PUFF
— Max Hodder (@maxhodder) April 5, 2022
puff is MY national champ
— george liddy ☀️ (@george_liddy) April 5, 2022
Puff is EVERYWHERE
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) April 5, 2022
In a brutal turn of fate, Johnson shortly after that spurt in the late second half got sick on the court after taking a blow to his chest. He went down and had to check out of the game before checking in for the last two possessions of the game.
North Carolina fell to the Jayhawks 72-69.
