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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.
Nassir Little and Cameron Johnson start their fourth NBA seasons Wednesday night and sought extensions of their rookie contracts, but only Little was able to strike a deal. Little agreed to a four-year $28-million contract extension with Portland on Monday. Given that Little hasn’t had many chances to show what he could do, he could have declined and hoped for a bigger deal if he had a breakout season. He opted for financial security.
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.
CHAPEL HILL — In Carolina’s 400th home women’s soccer victory in program history, the Tar Heels’ scoring chances didn’t number that high, but it almost felt like it as they kept coming. With UNC dominating possession and keeping N.C. State’s chances to a minimum, only the outstanding goaltending from Wolfpack goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta kept it close. The Heels still came away with an impressive 2–0 victory Sunday before 3,683 fans at Dorrance Field.
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.
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