Phoenix head coach Charles Tiu lauded import BJ Johnson following a rousing debut in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup.

Johnson came up with big plays in the Fuel Masters’ 98-86 victory over Magnolia in Group B on Saturday at the Ynares Center-Montalban for a positive start in the season-ending conference.

The Phoenix reinforcement needed a little time to adjust to the game before cranking up his production to lift his team out of an early 16-point hole.

“He found his groove a bit later on,” Tiu said.

“I thought in the first half he started a bit slow, but once he got the feel for the game, he was big. He helped us weather the storm when we were down in the first half and BJ got hot.”

Johnson finished with 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting from the field and grabbed 13 rebounds.

“I think it was a big win for us. I think in this conference, all the teams are tough. So, I think we just want to come out strong, make a statement early,” Johnson said.

“The game was tough. They fought the whole game, whether they were down, whether they made a run or we made a run. And I think down the stretch, we just kind of locked in and got the win.”

Although scoreless in the fourth period, Johnson took matters into his own hands in the second and third quarters after the Hotshots built a 44-28 separation early in the second canto.

Johnson scored 26 points in the middle quarters as Phoenix got its groove to outscore Magnolia in the second half, 49-33, for the stunning reversal.

“We wanted to keep going to him,” Tiu said.

“Obviously, we got him here to score. And I think the players did a good job of finding him, getting him his touches. And obviously, give credit to him. He made all the big plays for us today.

Despite the win, Johnson felt the Fuel Masters have a lot to work and improve on moving forward.

“We got the win, but I think there are still things we need to work on. Things we need to focus on getting better in practice,” he said.

“We did some good things as well. So, I think our job is just to try to focus on the good things, eliminate some of those bad mental lapses that we had, mental mistakes, and try to carry it on to the next one.”