UNC Basketball: Cameron Johnson leads Phoenix Suns in losing effort

Former UNC basketball standout Cameron Johnson led the Phoenix Suns in scoring in a difficult Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

It was a tough night for Cameron Johnson and the Phoenix Suns, as they were eliminated from the 2022 NBA Playoffs in blowout fashion in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.

As a whole, the Suns were absolutely putrid from start to finish. They played the worst 48 minutes of their impressive 64-win season, falling behind early and eventually losing by a final score of 123-90.

Johnson wasn’t nearly as bad as the rest of his team, scoring a game-high 12 points on the kind of efficient performance that eluded most of his teammates. He got just six shots up in 20 minutes of game time but hit three of them, including 2-of-4 from three-point range and 4-of-4 at the free throw line. He also pulled down five rebounds and dished out two assists while not committing a single turnover.

The former Tar Heel had a decent series, averaging 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game over the seven contests. He shot 43.9 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent beyond the arc. Johnson also connected on better than 82 percent of his attempts at the foul line (16-for-17) and turned the ball over just six times in 152 minutes on the court (0.9 per game).

Now, Johnson and the Suns will have to wait five months to get back out onto the court to take another stab at the organization’s first NBA Finals title. After logging more minutes and notching career bests in nearly every major statistical category in his third professional season, you can bet that Johnson will be a major factor for Phoenix next season.

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