The Phoenix Suns' matchup with the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday marked the start of a new era, with the team's big three of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal taking the floor for the first time. However, as one era began, a reminder of another returned.

Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson returned to face their former team for the first time since last season's Feb. 9 blockbuster trade. “The Twins,” as they were coined during their Suns days, played spoiler as Brooklyn defeated Phoenix 116-112 before a sellout crowd at Footprint Center.

Bridges scored 21 points on 7-of-19 shooting, while Johnson stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks on 5-of-10 shooting.

Cam Thomas led the Nets with 24 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter, including a pair of clutch free-throws with three seconds remaining to seal the win. Spencer Dinwiddie struggled early but came up clutch again late, scoring eight points in the final six minutes to propel Brooklyn to victory.

Kevin Durant scored 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting against his former team. However, he missed his final three shots, allowing the Nets to pull away in the final three minutes.

But the story of the game was Bridges and Johnson's robust reception from Suns fans. The duo received constant ovations throughout the night, the loudest of which came when Phoenix played a tribute video during pregame introductions.

While he was aware of his high standing amongst Phoenix's fans, Bridges said he wasn't prepared for the overwhelming response.

“Not like this,” he said when asked if he expected an inspired welcome. “I just know I put a lot of years here, building a culture and going to finals and everything like that. But you just kind of forget how great these fans are until you come back. They just showed it from the jump when I first stepped on the court to do all my shooting time.”

“The reception was definitely more than I thought it would be. It was real loud, even when we sprinted out to the court. It felt like a little home game in the beginning, so it was pretty cool.”

Johnson came out firing against his former team, opening 4-of-4 from the field in his first ten minutes. Suns fans' support of the 6-foot-8 sharpshooter was so strong that the crowd let out a collective groan when Devin Booker fouled him hard in transition during the first quarter.

Both Johnson and Bridges took the time to greet fans before and after the game, with the latter taking a postgame victory lap around the court to a loud ovation from the remaining crowd.

Johnson said he made it a priority to carve out time during his pregame routine to interact with fans.

“This building kind of welcomed me with open arms a long time ago and welcomed me with open arms tonight. These fans are special,” Johnson said. “Usually, over the last couple of years, you have 40, 41 games to play here and reach out to them and interact with them. Today, I only had about 20 minutes, and so I've decided to take that time to talk to as many people as I could… They care and I care for them. And so I kind of want to show that that they are appreciated. I won't be able to play back here for a while probably, so I wanted to take that time to show that love back.”

He joked postgame that he had to reassure the passionate fanbase of his well-being.

“I was trying to tell all the fans is I'm okay. I'm okay. They act like I got sent to away, sent to away juvie or something,” he said with a laugh. “I tell them we're doing all right. It's kind of what you learn that’s how the business goes. And you know, it's just really cool that they have so much passion, energy and so much appreciation because it's mutual.”

Booker led all scorers with 34 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 14-of-15 from the free-throw line. Bridges or Johnson frequently guarded the Suns superstar, who spoke postgame about what it meant to face both of his former teammates.

“Obviously, a lot of emotion there, a lot of feelings there,” Booker said. “I obviously keep up with them every night. My League Pass, the Nets are one of my favorite teams, I have them starred. If I am not watching them, I am getting alerts or checking box scores. It is bigger than basketball with them; everyone here knows they are high character, and they left their mark on this organization.”

The win brings the Nets to 13-10 on the season, a half-game back of fifth place in the Eastern Conference, despite poor injury luck and a difficult early schedule. Bridges and Johnson will continue to play a key role in the team's playoff push in the first full season of the post-Durant-Kyrie Irving era.

Like both players, head coach Jacque Vaughn said he wasn't prepared for the passion of the Phoenix crowd's reception. For a Nets organization facing an uncertain future after Durant and Irving's departures upended the team, the response served as reassurance of the direction their heading.

“When you're talking about re-establishing your identity and culture and really moving forward as an organization and taking the next step, that ovation should be like our anthem,” Vaughn said. “I couldn't believe it listening to the amount of people who were cheering for them. The reception, they should really embrace it. They left a mark here that seems pretty high-level.”