Cameron Johnson #23 of the Phoenix Suns looks on during the second quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on October 21, 2022 in Portland, Oregon. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/AFP
Cameron Johnson was 7 of 11 from 3-point range and scored 29 points to pace the Phoenix Suns to a 116-107 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night.
Mikal Bridges scored 19 points and Devin Booker had 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists as the Suns won their fifth consecutive game. Chris Paul contributed 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for Phoenix.
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves, who lost to the Suns for the eighth time in the past nine meetings. Anthony Edwards also scored 24 points, while Naz Reid added 13 and fellow reserve Jaylen Nowell had 10 for Minnesota.
Suns big man Deandre Ayton (ankle) missed his second straight contest.
Phoenix shot 46.1 percent from the field, including 17 of 43 from 3-point range. Bismack Biyombo had four blocked shots for the Suns.
Cam Johnson caught fire from beyond the arc in the @Suns win tonight.
29 PTS, 3 AST, 3 STL, 7 3PM pic.twitter.com/GdMb0g5XDh
— NBA (@NBA) November 2, 2022
The Timberwolves connected on 42.5 percent of their attempts and were 13 of 34 from behind the arc.
Minnesota trailed by as many as 18 points in the third quarter before making a run in the final stanza.
Edwards made two 3-pointers in 26 seconds to cap a 10-0 spurt that brought the Timberwolves within 87-85 with 8:36 left.
But the Suns answered with an inside hoop by Biyombo and a 3-pointer by Johnson to lead by seven with 7:43 to play.
Paul’s 15-footer gave Phoenix a 96-88 lead with 6:25 remaining. Johnson buried his seventh trey to increase the margin to 11 with 5:22 left.
CP3 dished out another complete performance tonight as he reached 21,000+ career points!
15 PTS
8 REB
12 AST
3 STL pic.twitter.com/RjzY7J5fOz
— NBA (@NBA) November 2, 2022
Bridges later made back-to-back baskets to push the lead to 105-91 with 3:16 to go and the Suns closed it out.
Phoenix led by seven points at halftime before opening the third quarter with a 15-5 burst to open up a 69-52 lead on Booker’s 3-pointer with 7:57 remaining.
Booker drilled another trey less than three minutes later to give the Suns a 74-56 advantage.
Minnesota used an 11-2 run later in the period to pull within eight before Torrey Craig connected on a 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds remaining to give Phoenix an 84-73 lead.
Johnson scored 17 first-half points to help the Suns hold a 54-47 advantage at the break. Edwards scored 15 for Minnesota.