Everyone that could be involved was in the Phoenix Suns’ 125-123 loss the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night, as the away team had the last word in a game of offensive runs.
Devin Booker identified Jalen Green for the game-tying bucket with 54.1 seconds remaining before swishing a 10-footer to keep things knotted up. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic wasn’t going to be denied, however, calmly draining the go-ahead midrange shot.
After a timeout with 11.5 seconds left on the clock, Booker nearly fumbled the inbound pass but got off a clean look from 3. The Phoenix star’s attempt rattled off the front of the rim and the Suns’ comeback falling short meant they remained stuck in the mud of No. 7 seed in the Western Conference standings.
Phoenix is four games back of the No. 6 position, which automatically qualifies for the postseason, with nine games left on its schedule.
Phoenix (40-33) had trailed by as many as 12 points before reclaiming their first lead (95-94) late in the third quarter on a 9-0 run. It had last held the lead when the score read 49-47.
Green, Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neale were sharpshooters from 3-point range, nailing 13 of the Suns’ 17 to keep up with the easy-looking firepower of Jokic (23 points, 17 rebounds, 17 assists) and the Nuggets (45-28).
Six of the 10 Phoenix players that got on the court scored double-digit points, Allen and O’Neale doing so with 21 and 17, respectively, as each returned from injury.
Green had 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting (3 for 6 from 3) and had six assists (his second-most in 25 games this season) and six rebounds. He has totaled 13 assists in the past two contests, having dished out seven in Sunday’s win over the Toronto Raptors.
Though Booker was not at his most efficient (5-of-14 shooting), he played turnover free basketball in 35 minutes and added eight assists.
Oso Ighodaro, whose putback dunk brought Phoenix all the way back in the third, was active and productive offensively, with six rebounds (two offensive) and 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. He had a difficult time at the free-throw line, however, with a 3 for 7 outing, as he entered shooting 46.9% this season. Denver’s late-game strategy was clearly to test this facet of Ighodaro’s game, as he was shooting freebies in crunch time.
The aggressive Nuggets defense did bite them where other Suns players where concerned, Booker and O’Neale knocking down crucial free throws to keep the game in the balance.
Booker made 11 of 13 from the charity stripe and the Suns won the free-throw difference, 37-30.
Phoenix came out of the gates firing, getting out to a 35-28 lead following the opening quarter in which it shot 56%. Denver flipped the game on its head and forced Phoenix to play catch-up the rest of the way with a +17 second quarter (39-22).
Former Sun Cam Johnson factored in this one, having 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting (2 for 7 from 3) and he added three rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
