Phoenix kept coming and after a Nassir Little layup pulled them within two Malone had to take a timeout. A Nurkic floater got it down to three before Strawther knocked down a three to push it back to a half dozen. They kept pushing the lead back down to seven or six points behind Durant and Nurkic. Meanwhile, Durant was going again on Phoenix’s side so the lead stayed right around ten with half the quarter gone. Jokic started to get more aggressive on offense after not looking to shoot pretty much at all the first half. The Nuggets got it up to a dozen but Gordon knocked down another three sparking a Michael Malone timeout. That put the lead back near ten quickly but Phoenix still was getting enough offense to not let Denver pull away completely. At the half Denver lead 70-63.ĭeep bucket 📏 /G1BTOllvPQĭenver opened the second half causing turnovers, drawing fouls and hitting threes. Eric Gordon had a solid quarter and hit back to back threes near the end of the quarter to get Phoenix back within single digits. Phoenix fought back with a mini-run to keep it from getting completely out of hand but there was no answer for Jokic’s passing and Watson was absolutely clamping KD.

Denver’s lead kept growing as the second quarter moved past the halfway point. PWat was defending Durant as well as anyone can. Peyton Watson was still on the court which meant on the other end things weren’t as easy. The stars checked back in around the seven minute mark and Jokic went to work diming up his teammates. The Suns were likewise fairly lost on offense with Durant on the bench so after a torrid scoring pace in the first it was quite the opposite at the beginning of the second.

Julian Strawther had a couple buckets for Denver to start the second quarter but otherwise there wasn’t a lot going on for the Nuggets on that end. After one Denver was up 41-30.īaseline view /i3kzsUMa7N Jokic checked out but Reggie Jackson carried the load to close out the first.

Once it got to ten Frank Vogel had to take a timeout with two minutes left in the quarter. They didn’t have much outside of Durant and an occasional Nurkic bucket. The Suns started to sputter on offense around half way through the quarter. Denver found a little separation as the bench units started to check in but it was still close with both teams still scoring at a high clip. Durant with his shooting and Jokic with his passing. Both teams cooled off as the quarter progressed but Durant and Jokic had no problem getting whatever they wanted.

Phoenix meanwhile was red hot to start as well, they didn’t miss a single shot over the first three minutes of the game. The Nuggets came out firing early and knocking down threes. In the end every Denver starter scores fifteen or more points and the Nuggets hold on to beat Phoenix 119-111. The Nuggets got a masterful playmaking performance from Nikola Jokic who finished with sixteen assists while the Suns got big nights from Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic. That didn’t stop either team from scoring in bunches in what ended up being a very tight game at the end. Both teams came into tonight’s contest battling injuries with the Nuggets missing Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon and the Suns missing Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. While the Nuggets have for the most part lived up to that billing it’s been a bit of a battle for Phoenix who finally seemed to be back on the right track with a seven game winning streak before dropping their most recent contest against the Toronto Raptors. The Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns were widely picked to be the top two teams in the Western Conference this season.

Suns nuggets recap