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Cameron Johnson shook off a right hip contusion to have his best game of the season Sunday night. In 23 minutes, Johnson collected 11 points, three 3-pointers, five rebounds, two assists and a steal as the Phoenix Suns (2–1) easily won on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers 112–95.
Cole Anthony played a good all-around game as Orlando challenged the reigning Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics in the Magic’s home opener. However, it came apart in the final minutes as Boston moved to 3–0 and Orlando fell to 0–3 after the Celtics’ 126–120 victory Saturday night.
Cole Anthony missed Orlando’s opener on Wednesday because he felt sick but to say that he was doing fine on Friday night would be an understatement. He matched Atlanta star Trae Young’s scoring output with 25 points in the Magic’s 108–98 Friday road loss to the Hawks, but they had contrasting games. Anthony came off the bench hot with 17 points in 12 first-half minutes while Young went scoreless in the first half.
Season one as an NBA starter began well for Cameron Johnson after missing most of the preseason with a right thumb injury. It was going fine with 15 points and three 3-pointers in the Phoenix Suns’ 107–105 come-from-behind home victory Wednesday over the Dallas Mavericks before he left the game with nearly 10 minutes remaining in the game because of cramping and didn’t return.
Justin Jackson, who is apparently in a battle with Jake Layman for the final Boston roster spot, hit a couple of big buckets in the Celtics’ 137–134 overtime loss to Toronto on Friday in Montreal. Jackson had only five points in eight minutes but hit an 11-foot jumper with 36.8 seconds left in regulation to give Boston a one-point lead after assisting on a Sam Hauser 3-pointer. In overtime, Jackson sank a 26-foot 3-point attempt with three minutes left and assisted on a Noah Vonleh bucket with 8.6 seconds remaining.
By R.L. Bynum After Coby White already faced an uncertain situation with the Chicago Bulls heading into the season, he … More
Cameron Johnson sprained his right thumb midway through the first quarter of the Phoenix Suns’ exhibition game on Wednesday night and is expected to miss the team’s final two exhibition games. Johnson played just over four minutes and missed a 3-point attempt in the Suns’ come-from-behind 119–115 victory in Las Vegas over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Cameron Johnson has proven doubters wrong since the day that the Phoenix Suns made him the 11th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and he’s about to take that to another level. Suns coach Monty Johnson said Thursday that Johnson would be one of his starters. This comes after last season’s starting power forward Jae Crowder was told in the offseason that he’d have a smaller role on the team. Crowder has since asked for a trade and isn’t in training camp.
There are plenty of interesting storylines involving former Carolina players as NBA teams begin training camp. Two small forwards will start, another has a decent chance to start, and one or two others are possible starters, while Danny Green will likely spend most of the season rehabbing after an offseason trade.
Could the one-and-done era be about to end, with players such as Coby White, Cole Anthony, Day’Ron Sharpe and Nassir Little never playing for Carolina? It could happen. According to The Athletic’s sources, eligibility for the NBA draft could be lowered from 19 years old to 18 as early as the 2024 draft.
Justin Jackson has signed a training camp deal with the Boston Celtics after a 10-day stint last season with the reigning Eastern Conference champions. The member of the 2017 UNC NCAA champion team spent most of last season in the G League with the Texas Legends, the Dallas Mavericks’ affiliate, but played one game with Boston and six with the Phoenix Suns. Jackson was out for most of his 10-day stay with the Celtics under the league’s health-and-safety protocols.
Day’Ron Sharpe has averaged a double-double during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and kept that momentum going on Thursday while Justin Jackson had another solid game. Sharpe collected 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks Thursday as his Brooklyn team easily defeated Minnesota 102–83.
Brady Manek continues to make a solid contribution to the Charlotte Hornets’ Summer League team even though his playing time continues to be limited. In 15 minutes off the bench Wednesday afternoon, Manek contributed 12 points and seven rebounds and was +12 in the Hornets’ 91–80 victory in Las Vegas over Cleveland, pushing their record to 2–1.
It’s hard to understand why Justin Jackson wasn’t able to get more than a 10-day contract in the NBA contract last season. All Jackson can do to change that is to take advantage of his opportunities to show what he can do, and he did that Tuesday night. Jackson started and scored a team-high 24 points and five 3-pointers to help the Boston Celtics’ Summer League team hold off a big Golden State rally for a 103–92 victory in Las Vegas. Jackson, who pulled down three rebounds, scored 11 points in the first quarter.
Justin Jackson, who played one game for the Boston Celtics last season, joined their Summer League team on Monday and scored 10 points in a 111–109 victory against another one of his former teams, the Milwaukee Bucks.
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