Cam Johnson thought he should’ve kept the ball when Phoenix tried to force overtime against Utah last week.
So it only seemed appropriate the ball wound up in his hands to deliver the biggest shot of his NBA career.
Johnson scored a career-high 38 points with his final 3 connecting off glass at the buzzer to give the Suns a 115-114 comeback stunner over New York before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Footprint Center that lost their minds in retirement afterward.
Scoring 21 of his 38 points in the fourth, Johnson nearly matched his previous career high of 24 in the final quarter. His career-high nine 3s tied a franchise record.
Here are five takeaways from Friday’s thriller that took an emotional turn when Johnson and Julius Randle got into it late in the third with New York up 10 points.
After video review, Randle was ejected with 2:40 left in the quarter following two technicals as he finished with a team-high 25 points for the Knicks (25-38).
Johnson picked up a technical, but stayed in the game and led the Suns (51-12) to victory in matching the number of wins they had all last season in a 72-game season.
1. Johnson’s riff with Randle started way before their altercation in the third.
Johnson rewinded back to their earlier November matchup in New York and talked about Randle giving him a shot on a box out.
Do not foul call.
So when Randle knocked the wind out of him Friday night from a Randle blow to the rib area, Johnson said it “felt cheap” and “really hurt.”
Do not foul call again.
After catching his breath, the usually level-headed Johnson was fuming and started playing with an inner rage.
So when he and Randle got into the third quarter, Johnson was already there and wasn’t about to back down this time.
Not at all.
As Johnson said, as a man, he had to stand up for himself.
And his teammates fed off that energy that fueled the comeback thriller.
2. Now let’s dissect the actual dust up.
Randle plays rough and physical. Bully ball if you will.
So he gets into the paint throwing his body, and elbow, around in bumping Johnson off his spot while looking to grab an offensive rebound.
In reaction, Johnson gave Randle a shove in the back.
In reaction to that, Randle got in his face and proceeded to shove Johnson with his left hand after the two exchanged some words.
This all happened in front of the Suns bench.
Bismack Biyombo eventually got in between the two, got Randle out of the way and then looked to head that way before Suns security stopped him.
Fans booed. Really loud. Then cheered at a high volume when Randle was ejected after video review..
The Knicks were up, 86-76, with 2:40 left in the third, but Suns coach Monty Williams said he told his Suns they were going to win the game.
They did, but went into the fourth down, 93-81.
Then Johnson went solar.
As dramatic as that ending was, Alec Burks had made both free throws to put the Knicks up three, the best that could’ve happened for the Suns was overtime.
Burks left the door open for Johnson to make the 31-footer at the horn that had the crowd going bonkers.
For those fans who left, there’s always YouTube, but that can’t match seeing it live.
3. Just a week ago, Phoenix didn’t handle a late-game situation that ended with a four-point loss to the Jazz.
Williams didn’t get the timeout. Jae Crowder turned the ball over looking for Booker.
Crowder and Booker both felt they could’ve called a timeout.
And Johnson was upset with himself for not pushing the ball up the floor even though he was dribbling into a Jazz trap before kicking it backwards to Crowder.
This time, the Suns didn’t have a timeout, but had a play set up if Burks made or missed the second free throw with 7.1 seconds left.
Burks missed the second.
After trailing by 14, Phoenix found itself down only two.
Then the following happened.
Mikal Bridges dug out the rebound and pitched it back to Payne.
That was by design.
Then Payne pushed the ball. With time running out, Payne was fast, but not in a hurry.
Seeing Johnson as he passed to him, Payne thought, well, let’s give Johnson another shot.
Clearly a good call as he said the previous play was for Johnson, but he instead went looking to score and missed a layup with the Suns down one with 7.9 seconds left.
Payne was just 6-of-16 from the field, committed four turnovers, but was finding guys all night in posting a career-high 16 assists.
His final one came on finding the hottest hand in the building.
Wanting to get more underneath it after seeing his previous misses fall short, Johnson put so much on it, the shot banked in the basket.
Shooting 11-of-16 from the field, 9-of-12 on 3s, Johnson said it felt good on the release, but admitted he didn’t call bank.
Suns will take it.
4. After Wednesday’s win over Portland, Payne went into that game wondering how they were going to make up the FGAs Booker and Paul accumulate.
Booker averages 20.8 attempts while Paul is at 11.5.
In terms of scoring, Booker averages 25.6 points, Paul 14.9.
So that’s 32.3 attempts and 40.5 points the All-Star backcourt brings to the table.
Johnson scored 38 by himself.
Add Bridges’ 20 on 11 FGAs, Payne’s 17 on 16 FGAs and Crowder’s 14 on 12 FGs, the Suns had plenty of guys filling the shooting and scoring void.
Crowder was 2-of-7 from 3, but hit both 3s in the fourth-quarter comeback.
Deandre Ayton wasn’t one of those guys making a huge difference.
He scored just eight points on 4-of-10 shooting and only grabbed three rebounds.
Three. The Suns were outrebounded, 49-33.
Mitchell Robinson outplayed him in going for 17 points and 15 rebounds with nine coming on the offensive glass.
Blocking Payne’s late layup attempt, Robinson would’ve been the hero had Johnson missed that 3 at the buzzer.
Ayton hasn’t been a force on the glass since the All-Star break. He hasn’t even been close to making a difference on the boards. The Suns can live without him scoring big every night, but rebounding is what doomed them in the finals.
It will again in the postseason if Ayton doesn’t doesn’t return to the double-digit rebounder he’s been his NBA career.
5. Finally, the Suns have a huge three-game road trip Sunday at Milwaukee, but they’ll likely be without Booker for the start of it.
He won’t make trip to Wisconsin if he’s still in protocols. If he’s cleared during the trip, don’t be surprised if Booker makes his way to Florida as Phoenix concludes the trip with a road back-to-back against Orlando on Tuesday and Miami on Wednesday.
Williams said Booker is eager to get back, but it might be good for him to stay home and rest. The Suns have a 7-1/2 game lead on the Warriors in the West.
That’s a big enough cushion for them to go without Booker even if they go 1-2 on the road trip.
Phoenix’s first game back home is March 11 against Toronto, followed by March 13 versus the Lakers. The Suns could have Booker return for one of those two games.
The Suns keep saying they have a chance to grow without Booker and Paul. They can continue to take the course one could call “How to play when teams take out Booker and Paul.”
That happened in the playoffs last year. It will happen again this year.
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism