The Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks have built two of the longest winning streaks in the NBA on historic wing play from Jalen Johnson and Grayson Allen.
Only Hawks’ forward Johnson is expected to play when the teams meet in Phoenix on Sunday, however, after Allen suffered a quad contusion Thursday. He is listed as day-to-day.
The Suns have won five in a row, and the Hawks are on a four-game winning streak.
Johnson enters Sunday’s matchup after a 132-122 victory at Utah on Thursday, in which he had 31 points, 18 rebounds, 14 assists and seven steals.
He is the first player in league history to reach all those plateaus in the same game, and he joined Denver center Nikola Jokic as one of two active players with a 30/12/12/5 game.
“The feel he has for the game,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “He has a diverse set of skills as far as passing, handling. He’s taking what the defense gives him. For any young player, it is one of the hardest things to do.”
“Having the poise to find the open man. Sometimes you have to go through some things to get better. You can put your team on your back in a lot of ways.”
Johnson is averaging 21.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 6.3 assists this season, and he has bumped that to 22/11/7.4 in the seven games that point guard Trae Young (sprained knee) has missed.
The Hawks, averaging 123 points in their four-game streak, conclude a four-game western swing in Phoenix.
The Suns also are scoring at a high clip, averaging 121.2 points during their streak. They have won seven of eight after a 1-4 start.
Allen set career highs with 42 points and 10 3-pointers in a 121-98 victory over New Orleans on Monday; his 10 threes also marked a franchise record.
He suffered a right quad contusion in a collision with Indiana center Jay Huff in the second quarter of a 133-98 victory on Thursday and did not return. Allen led the league with 51 threes entering Saturday’s games.
The Hawks and Suns have received other big contributions during their runs.
Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu had career highs with 32 points and eight 3-pointers against Utah, when he became the third player in league history with 30 points, 10 rebounds, eight threes, two blocked shots, and two steals in one game. James Harden and LeBron James are the others.
Suns reserve center Oso Ighodaro had career-high 17 points against the Pacers in support of Devin Booker, who had 33 points, his seventh 30-plus game this season.
Booker is averaging a career-high 28.5 points and is shooting a career-high 50 percent as the Suns adapt to coach Jordan Ott’s free-flowing, no-stick offensive schemes.
“We just try to get that first action to start the blender and play from there,” Booker said after the Indiana game. “We have our spacing figured out, and it creates a lot of easy looks from all over the floor.”
Suns forward Dillon Brooks, who had a season-high 32 points against Indiana, was fined $25,000 for the “crotch chop” gesture he made after hitting an off-balance jumper in the second quarter.
“People forget that I used to do this (score), but there’s a new me,” Brooks said. “I like to play the defense. I like to make it chippy, but it’s always the icing on the cake when you’re able to score. It defeats them so much.”
–Field Level Media
