The Phoenix Suns played in one of the toughest buildings to win in. It was their second game in as many nights, and they were down Jalen Green and Mark Williams. It showed. They fought hard, but were outmatched
from start to finish.
Phoenix knocked down 17 threes, but had 29 fouls and 19 turnovers in the loss.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 31 points and 7 assists (8 turnovers), while Dillon Brooks finished with 15 points and 4 steals on 6-18 shooting. Grayson Allen chipped in with 17 points, including five threes. Nikola Jokic wasn’t his usual self offensively, but he still compiled a triple-double with 14 points, 15 assists, and 14 rebounds. The Nuggets had 7 players in double figures, which made up for the 8 shot attempts from the Joker.
The Suns’ defense has been suspect, to say the least. Especially in the first half of all three games. They have let up 70+ points in the opening half thus far.
The Suns drop to 1–2 on the season. The Nuggets improve to 1–1.
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns came out flat, falling behind 11-3 in the opening few minutes. Grayson Allen connected on two early threes to give Phoenix their first 6 points of the game.
Things were sloppy for most of the quarter on both sides, struggling to get their shots to fall. Denver went 1 for their first 8 from three in the first 8 minutes. Meanwhile, Phoenix had 7 turnovers in the first 7 minutes of action, failing to protect the ball. Carelessness kept the Suns out of it early despite Denver’s shooting struggles.
Three early fouls from Nick Richards led to Khaman Maluach getting a look with 2:21 in the first quarter. Devin Booker turned it up a notch with the aggression, drilling a pull-up three and finishing a tough drive with a shot off the glass for 5 quick points.
Phoenix trailed 34-28 after the first quarter, following a Jamal Murray heave to beat the buzzer. Murray led all Nuggets with 9 points, and Booker led the Suns with 7. An amazing feat: the Suns held the Joker scoreless in the opening quarter.
Maluach’s first career bucket came on this slam, assisted by Grayson Allen.
The Nuggets carried the momentum over from the end of the 1st quarter into the 2nd, building their lead back up to 12 with 6:19 in the quarter.
Things were getting physical, with Jokic swinging at Oso Ighodaro on a drive, resulting in a flagrant one foul. There was some extracurricular activity with Jokic’s shove on Ryan Dunn afterward.
A pair of Dillon Brooks triple cut the Nuggets’ lead down to eight, 61-53, with 2:34 remaining in the half. Denver’s mini three-point shooting barrage (after struggling all half) helped extend their lead.
By halftime, the Nuggets had a firm grip on the game, leading 71-54.
Second Half
The beginning of the third quarter was more of how the second quarter ended. Denver was pushing in transition off the Suns’ misses and drawing fouls. Phoenix picked up 3 early fouls in the opening 3:25 of action.
The Suns then answered with an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 12 with just under six minutes remaining. Oso put in two more to make it a 10-0 run and an 81-71 ball game.
They could have easily mailed it in, but as we all hoped, this team showed some fight. They were just outtalented.
This was a fun note relayed from Duane Rankin (and NBA Courtside) on Devin Booker’s downhill attacking. This is the aggression many Suns fans wanted to see from Booker.
The Suns trailed 100-83 after three quarters. Every punch they threw was matched by the Nuggets, as each team scored exactly 29 points in the quarter.
Jamal Murray went on a quick personal 5-0 run to spark Denver and push their lead to 22. Phoenix once again fought back, cutting it down to 15 after a few stops generated some easy looks.
A Royce O’Neale triple cut the lead down to just 11 points with 6:48 remaining, leading to a Denver timeout. Phoenix kept hanging around…
Denver brought back their starters after Phoenix’s run and scored the next 6 points to push their lead back to 17. They pestered Denver all night, but the Nuggets were able to prevail. The white flag was thrown out with 4:30 remaining, as Phoenix emptied its bench.
And that was all she wrote.
Up Next
The Suns will take on the Utah Jazz on Monday in Salt Lake City. They’re going to need it.
