(Writer’s note: Stiffs, I am sorry, I was not strong enough to beat the 9pm tip. I thought I could do it, but at about the five minute mark of the fourth, laptop fully open in lap, recap draft pulled up…I fell asleep. Please accept my deepest apologies for the delayed recap)
The Denver Nuggets had to wait until 9pm mountain time to start their contest against the Phoenix Suns and needed until nearly the next day to finish it. The Nuggets and Suns went back and forth throughout the game with Nikola Jokic and Devin Booker leading their respective squads. It came down to the final moment with each star getting a chance to make a play. Joker ended up with yet another ridiculous triple double and also the game winner in the last 15 seconds of the game. Denver escapes the desert with a 125-123 win.
The Suns opened the game knocking down seemingly every shot. That got them the early lead while the Nuggets tried to keep pace but weren’t as successful. They were frustrated pretty much from the opening tip with Jokic picking up an early technical and the offense being a general slog. Eventually things got going for them but the Suns continued to knock down enough shots to stay in front. Tim Hardaway Jr. gave Denver a spark off the bench and had six straight points. That helped to keep them within reach in the final minutes of the first. After one they trailed 35-28.
The second quarter opened with Hardaway and Colin Gillespie trading baskets. Other than them there wasn’t much offense. The Suns stayed ahead by a couple baskets but Denver kept the pressure on. Eventually the Nuggets bench unit ground away Phoenix’s lead and tied it on a Bruce Brown second chance effort. The starters trickled back in after that but Phoenix had found new life through Jalen Green. Just past halfway through the quarter the Nuggets got the lead, once again Brown was the catalyst. Julian Strawther also had some solid minutes. Denver’s lead got up to five with a couple minutes left in the half with Green being quite literally the only source of Phoenix’s offense for several minutes. Grayson Allen got a couple buckets but otherwise the Suns were ice cold. That let Denver get a double digit lead in the closing moments of the half. At the break they lead 67-57.
Denver’s passing was crisp to open the second half but their defense lacked energy. The Suns used second chance points to chip away at the lead and got within a half dozen or so. Cam Johnson kept Denver’s offense afloat with some help from Aaron Gordon while Jokic piled up stats and had a triple double practically the moment the third started. Phoenix countered with their talented rookie Khaman Maluach and kept the game close. Jokic wouldn’t let the Suns get the lead fully back though. He kept finding open teammates for a bucket when Denver needed it the most. That stayed the story as the quarter headed down the stretch. Turnovers were an issue and led to a poor close to the third for the Nuggets. Phoenix ended up finishing the quarter on a 9-3 run and going to the fourth Denver led just 97-95.
Scoring was tough to come by to open the final frame. Murray helped grind out a few points and then had a nice assist to Spencer Jones to keep pace with Phoenix. Otherwise though neither he nor any other Nuggets could buy a shot. Meanwhile the Suns weren’t exactly burning up the nets but the Nuggets were getting confused on their switches which led to a couple easy buckets. Brown had a couple key buckets and kept Denver in front until Jokic could get back in the game. Denver’s defense dialed up (they also intentionally fouled Oso Ighodaro a couple times) but they couldn’t put Phoenix away with the game winding down. An AG three put them up eight with about three minutes to go but he was struggling at the free throw line and no one else could hit a shot. Meanwhile Phoenix kept going to the line (now in the bonus since the coaching decision from the Nuggets was to intentionally foul with the lead) and converting. Point by point the lead dwindled until Green got an easy drive and layup to tie the game at 121 with under a minute to go. It was still tied as Jokic worked his way into the post and then buried a soft floater to give the Nuggets the lead with eleven seconds left. On the other end, Booker got a good look at a three to win but came up short. Denver survives and win 125-123.
