In the absence of both Paul and Booker, the Suns today beat the Knicks 115-114 at home thanks to Cameron Johnson's long-range three-point shootout.
Cameron Johnson, who is a big contributor to today, also played the best performance of his career, playing 28 minutes in the whole game, 11 of 16, including 9 of 12 three-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws, scoring a career-high 38 points and a career-high 9 three-pointers.
In the final moments of the game, the Suns trailed by two points, Cameron Johnson received a pass from Payne, resolutely shot, hit the board and hit his ninth three-pointer of the game, successfully compressing the Knicks. In the final quarter, Johnson scored 7-of-8 and 6-of-7 from three-point range, scoring 21 points.
Prior to today's game, only Lillard could hit more than nine three-pointers while hitting a whistle-beating streak. In the first round of the 2019 playoffs against the Thunder, Lillard hit 10 three-pointers and helped the Blazers eliminate the Thunder with a three-point shot to advance to the second round. Although today's game is a regular season game, Johnson only scored 38 points, less than Lillard's 50 points, but Johnson played such a performance as a substitute, only playing 28 minutes, which is also very rare.
In addition to Cameron Johnson, Payne also performed well today, shooting 6-of-16 from the starting game, 0-of-3 from three-point range, 5-of-7 from the free throw line, and a double-double with 17 points and 16 assists, plus-minus +10. 16 assists set a career-high for Payne, after a record of just eight assists per game this season.
Although Payne did not perform well enough at key moments today, he finally atonement for his sins, assisting Cameron Johnson to complete the whistle-blowing kill and help the Suns win. Just from the data point of view, Payne played like Paul today, and he himself started in place of Paul.
In contrast, Cameron Johnson behaved like Booker today, being brilliant on the offensive end and being able to step up in key moments. Although Paul and Booker are not here today, the Suns have another Paul and Booker, so they still got a victory. Interestingly, Johnson and Payne are the same name, both called Cameron, and the Suns won today by two Camerons.
The Knicks had six players in the team today to score in double figures, and Randall was expelled twice as a technician, playing 28 minutes and shooting 9 of 18, including 1 of 2 three-pointers and 6 of 6 free throws, with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Barrett played 43 minutes and shot 6-of-26, including 1-of-7 from three-point range and 7-of-10 from the free throw line, with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Fournier had 16 points, Burkes 15, Mitchell Robinson 15 and Quickley 13.