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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS


June 21, 2021


Cameron Johnson


Phoenix Suns

Practice Day


Q. Cam, when you look at 0.5 and how you guys are urged to make quick decisions but also the right ones, when did you hit a point with Monty's offense where you felt comfortable with it? Because it's really been showing in the playoffs.

CAMERON JOHNSON: It's a growth over time thing. He's been preaching that since day one, so there's been a lot of time to understand it. A lot of the times, it's just about picking up things as you go along, just how the 0.5 kind of fits into our personnel grouping, who's on the court with you, and how it all works out. In that regard, just a buildup over time for sure.

Q. Just wanted to find out what goes through your mind when you see James Jones, your GM, win the Executive of the Year, especially when he's the guy that drafted you in maybe a spot that most people didn't think you were going to get drafted. What does it mean to you when you see that he gets rewarded for taking a chance on you and of course bringing in other guys that have helped you have this season?

CAMERON JOHNSON: Yeah, just team-wise, I really, really love our group. You can kind of see we've got a lot of guys that work hard, good character guys, and guys that can really come together and create something pretty cool to be a part of. So to see him, he deserves it, honestly. I thought that since day one, but he deserves it. I love this team. I love who we have on the court. I love playing with these guys. Just that right there shows enough that this is a group that's definitely worth fighting for, and I'm really happy for them.

Q. Just looking at yesterday's game being without Chris, if you guys have to move forward to another game without him, what do you feel like your guys gained or learned from yesterday that would benefit you moving forward with that?

CAMERON JOHNSON: Anytime you lose a guy that's such an important part of your process, you've got to change some things, you've got to tweak some things. I think we did a decent job of doing that yesterday, and then tomorrow -- it's just today, tomorrow, everything in between is just going to be a continuing of the concepts that we want to really show in the game and taking advantage of what we see that we can.

I think yesterday we did a decent job of executing certain things, but we can definitely be better. So that's how we'll be better going forward.

Q. I know it was a long time ago, but I'm hoping you can kind of take me back somewhere. Last year third game into the bubble, you guys beat the Clippers by two in a pretty good basketball game. You obviously don't lose the rest of the time you guys are in Florida. I'm just kind of curious how valuable you felt that stretch was for kind of to set the stage for where you guys are this year, that time in the bubble? If you have anything you remember specifically about that game, I'd appreciate it.

CAMERON JOHNSON: I think it gave us a lot of momentum going into the season, a ton of momentum. Beyond that, let's say we didn't even make it to the bubble. That's a lot of months without being together as a team. So the fact that we were able to get into the bubble, come close to the playoffs, maybe not make it, but it gave us a lot of steam, momentum, kind of showed that the work that we put in, the kind of culture that we built is starting to pay some dividends. It just gave us a lot of excitement going into the season.

You add a couple guys like Jae and C.P. into the group, and this is the result. We're going to keep pushing forward, keep building our culture, keep building our group, and hopefully more good things continue to come our way.

Q. Deandre has obviously had a great playoff run, even going back to the Lakers series. Just maybe what's impressed you most about what he's been able to do in his first playoff experience? Guys often talk about the little things he does, like his screening, things like that maybe. What are the things that we don't see that really impacts your team?

CAMERON JOHNSON: He's just been so solid all the way around. He's not giving any -- he's not a liability on the court. He's not a liability. There's not stretches where he stops playing hard or he makes bad decisions. He's been making great decisions. His motor's been really high, and he's doing all those little things -- screening, running the court, being where he needs to be on help side, staying on the court, staying out of foul trouble. Those are huge things for us. He's a huge part of what we're doing, and he's been playing great so far.

Q. Kind of staying on that topic a little bit, what were you seeing with the lineup you guys closed with, with all three of you wings out there with Book and Deandre, and I guess just what allowed it to play so well and close that game out?

CAMERON JOHNSON: It's a lot of length. So defensively, we can switch guys around, move guys on different people, and just cover a lot of ground on the court. Offensively, I think it's a group that's really capable of shooting. At the end of the game they were starting to trap a little bit more, blitz. I think we've got guys in that group that can pick that apart. There's Book making plays out of it, and Deandre down towards the rim, and Mikal and Jae on the outside attacking and shooting. I think that helps a lot, and I'm glad we came out with the win.

Q. Just another question on the lineup, man. It seemed like you and Torrey Craig, even with the compromised depth with C.P. out, the bench clearly outplayed the Clippers' bench. What do you see with you and Torrey specifically? Torrey didn't start the season with you, so over the course of the year, how have you developed a partnership at forward on the wing with him and used that to your advantage in this series?

CAMERON JOHNSON: He's a guy that does a lot of little things. Defends really well, rebounds really well, can move the ball really well. He's been a big part of what we've been doing these last couple months. To have him come along and integrate with us pretty seamlessly has been pretty cool. Definitely a huge bonus to our team, and he's hitting shots I know, too, which has been really big for us.

Q. For the Clippers, Rajon Rondo is someone whose role has ebbed and flowed throughout these playoffs, but he closed yesterday, and that really hasn't been the case with the Clippers for a while. As you guys were game planning, did you guys expect Rondo to be part of that closing lineup for most of the fourth quarter, or was that sort of a wrinkle that was a little bit you had to adjust to on the fly?

CAMERON JOHNSON: You've got to be prepared for all of those situations. Their scheme, what they do, what they do with Rondo on the court, they do with Rondo off the court, we prepared for a lot of it, for all of it. That's our job is to go into the game and be ready.

To bring him onto the court at the end of the game didn't faze us, and we kept doing what we were doing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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