Kevin Durant scores 30, Suns shut down Nuggets in Denver 104-97
DENVER (AZFamily/AP) — The Suns brought the 3 ball and the defense to the Mile High City as Phoenix bounced back from an embarrassing loss to beat the Nuggets for the second time this month on Wednesday night in Denver 104-97.
The Nuggets got within eight points in the fourth quarter, and it appeared that Phoenix could have another fourth-quarter meltdown.
But the Suns pulled away as Denver didn’t get any closer.
The Suns, with the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, moved a half-game ahead of Sacramento for the seventh spot in the Western Conference as they try to move up to sixth to avoid a play-in game. Dallas is No. 6, a half-game ahead of Phoenix.
Kevin Durant finished with 30 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, while Devin Booker added 17 points.
Bradley Beal had a sprained right ring finger but still started the game, scoring 10 points and getting seven assists.
The Nuggets struggled without starting point guard Jamal Murray, who missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle and only shot 25% from 3.
Suns saw their lead get as high as 15 points in the third quarter.
Nikola Jokic had 22 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists as he fought through lower back pain and left hip soreness.
The Suns came alive in the second quarter, outrebounding Denver 17-8 and going 4-9 from beyond the arc. Denver was just 2-11 in shooting 3s.
Phoenix also had a 13-2 burst in the quarter, capped off by a Bol Bol three for a 42-31 lead. The Suns had a 59-52 lead at halftime.
Booker got off to a hot start in the game, leading all scorers with 10 points in the first quarter.
Jusuf Nurkić didn’t play in Denver after spraining his ankle against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. The Suns were 0-4 without the 7-footer heading into Wednesday night.
The Suns got a much-needed win after losing 104-102 on Monday night in San Antonio against the Spurs who didn’t have their star Victor Wembanyama.
Phoenix came into the game in eighth place in the Western Conference, meaning they would be in the play-in tournament with the playoffs starting next month.
Denver was No. 1 in the West, but now just half a game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Suns head to Oklahoma City on Friday.
The Nuggets, a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City and Minnesota, lost for just the third time in 18 games since the All-Star break, and two of those losses have come at home to the Suns, who prevailed 117-107 in overtime at Ball Arena on March 5.
Denver won six straight games at home after that, but Wednesday night were again victimized by terrific long-range shooting from the Suns, who made 16 of 33 shots from behind the arc. Denver was 10 of 40 on 3s.
Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon each added 18 points for Denver, but the Nuggets’ bench shot just 5 of 19.
Devin Booker got away with two fouls on one play in which he forced a turnover, inadvertently slapping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the face and drawing blood, then cross body-blocking Jokic, who lost the ball out of bounds as he stumbled over a sprawled-out Booker.
That served to energize the Nuggets, who pulled to 71-68 late in the third quarter. But they watched the Suns re-establish themselves via a turnaround jumper from Durant and back-to-back 3-pointers from Booker and Eric Gordon that restored Phoenix’s double-digit lead that was never really threatened again.
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