The Phoenix Suns traded for Tyler Johnson on Feb. 6 and it was only a matter of time until he had his breakout game in a Phoenix uniform. Johnson showed Suns fans what he’s capable of offensively on Saturday night when the team tipped-off against the Atlanta Hawks.
But it was Devin Booker who got things going early for the Suns, finishing the first quarter with eight points as the game was tied up at 33 apiece.
Both teams captured small leads, but neither one could quite pull away before the Hawks began to ehat up midway through the second. Atlanta went on a 19-5 run and the game looked to be getting out of hand for the Suns.
This would be just one of many scoring runs throughout the game as each team seemed to find a spark right as the other one would begin to cool down.
Booker and Kelly Oubre Jr. both knocked down big shots in the final minute of the first half to bring the Suns to within just four entering the break.
Johnson had eight points in the first half, but the 26-year-old guard was just getting started.
He opened up the third quarter with a three-pointer on the Suns first possession. He followed this up with two made free throws as he scored the first five points for the Suns in the second half.
Remember those scoring runs mentioned early? It was the Suns turn.
Johnson helped lead the Suns on a 22-8 run as he scored 15 points in just the third quarter alone. The Suns led 87-86 entering the fourth and needed to remain hot in order to close out the game on the road.
The Suns once again opened up the quarter with a three as De’Anthony Melton found Mikal Bridges for the triple. Oubre followed this up with consecutive steals leading to consecutive fast break slams and the Suns looked to be in control.
With under six minutes to go, Deandre Ayton hit two free throws to put them up by eight, but despite the Suns strong second half, the Hawks still had one more run on the way.
Atlanta began catching fire yet again and, although Booker and Johnson did what they could offensively, the Hawks closed out the fourth quarter on a 25-9 run. The Suns ultimately fell to Hawks 120-112.
“Nobody likes to lose,” Johnson said following the game. “If you do, you’re in the wrong sport. You’re in the wrong league. It’s definitely frustrating. Are there positives that we can take out of it? Yeah. But as a team, we’ve got to get to a point where we’re not taking positives out of losses. Let’s work out of mistakes out of wins. That’s something that we’ve got to get better at.”
That being said, Johnson was still able to find positives in the loss and key points for the Suns to build on moving forward.
“Positively, I thought we played really hard,” Johnson said. “I thought we got to our offensive a lot better than we had in the past. I thought we were really moving because when we play fast it allows guys like KO and Book and JJ and Mikal to be able to be who they are. It allows DA to clean up the messes and then be able to get them deep seals in the lane. It allows everybody to be themselves.”
Johnson scored a season-high 29 points (just three points shy of a career-high) on a highly-efficient 62.5 percent shooting, including four-of-six from deep. He also tallied five rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in his breakout game as a Sun.
Since arriving in Phoenix, Johnson hadn’t become a go-to scorer for the Suns, but Head Coach Igor Kokoskov knew that he was always capable of rising to the occasion.
“He made some shots,” Kokoskov said. “He’s playing hard. He’s always competing. He’s positive. He keeps guys together. He’s a glue guy. The only reason he didn’t score points that he’s capable of scoring is that he’s a playmaker right now. He’s a point guard. He’s trying to facilitate and feel comfortable with the system.”
Booker was right behind Johnson in scoring with 26 points to go along with his eight assists and seven rebounds.
Ayton notched his rookie-leading 31st double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds on 75 percent shooting from the field.
The Suns will close out their road trip on Monday as they travel to Miami to face the Heat. Be sure to catch the action on Fox Sports Arizona.