DJ lays down fast track to Finals

From their very first conversation, David Johnson made it clear to Scott Roth what he wanted. A place where he could impact winning. On Sunday, he did exactly that, drilling seven three-pointers and knocking down the game winner for the Tasmania JackJumpers.

Johnson arrived in Tasmania with a reputation as an elite shooter, recruited by Roth after building a name for himself in the G League. He hit 42 per cent from beyond the arc last season with the Memphis Hustle, but coming out of the University of Louisville, Johnson was searching for more than just shots. He wanted a bigger role and a greater influence on results.

That mindset immediately caught Roth’s attention. After assessing Johnson’s skill set and understanding what he was looking for, the JackJumpers coach knew he wanted him on board.

While Johnson’s season was heavily disrupted by a calf injury that sidelined him for 11 games, he is now beginning to realise his full potential. And his timing couldn’t be more important.

With leading scorer Bryce Hamilton lost to a season-ending knee injury, Johnson has been forced into a larger role. He's embraced it. Over the past four games, including the period since Hamilton went down, Johnson is averaging 23.5 points and 5.8 rebounds.

On Sunday at MyState Bank Arena, he didn’t just step up. He exploded.

With sixth position on the line against the New Zealand Breakers, Johnson set the tone early. He poured in 22 points in the first half, then delivered the decisive moment late, burying his seventh three-pointer with 13.5 seconds remaining to land the match-winning blow and move the JackJumpers two games clear inside the top six.

Johnson finished with 33 points, four rebounds and two assists in 35 minutes, shooting an elite 7-of-11 from beyond the arc.

"When we did the Zoom interview with him one of the first things he said when we asked what was he looking for, was that he wanted to go somewhere that I could impact winning," Roth said.

"He hadn’t had that opportunity really in the G League and I said that this would be the spot for you, and then his last two or three weeks have been on the rise.

"Now he's told on himself how good he can be and now it's about if we can hit the repeat button and not necessarily to get 33 points, but to play with that kind of demeanour.

"It was a hell of a game by him, but I will say we had guys logging monster minutes in the last 48 hours, Majok Deng 42 minutes (on Friday) and he didn’t come out of the game today, that's the most Tyger has had and the grind and the effort for these guys was real and everybody contributed."

Johnson might be built for the big moments on the court, but away from it he prefers to keep things low key. After the game, he was typically matter of fact, saying he simply delivered what he expects of himself, including knocking down the winning shot.

"I probably would have gotten yelled at it if I didn’t shoot it," Johnson said.

"I mean I expect it of myself every single game, so tonight my shot just happened to fall a little bit more than it usually does, but I wasn’t really surprised by it."