On December 2, Beijing time, the NBA regular season game continued. In a high-profile matchup, the Phoenix Suns meet the Denver Nuggets at home. The Nuggets took the lead from the start of the first quarter and have since withstood a Suns' comeback. In the end, the Nuggets defeated the Suns 119-111 on the road, winning four in a row and sending their opponents to two in a row.
Suns (11-8): Durant 30 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists, Nurkic 31 points and 6 rebounds, Gordon 16 points, Allen 13 points and 9 rebounds, Okogie 13 points.
Nuggets (14-6): Jokic 21 points, 5 rebounds and 16 assists, Porter 19 points and 10 rebounds, Reggie 20 points, Pope 15 points and 5 assists, Holiday 15 points and 5 assists.
In the first half of the first quarter of the game, the two sides went back and forth on the court, and the score difference did not widen. After the middle of the period, the Nuggets blossomed more and launched a 13-2 attack wave, and the Nuggets led the Suns by 10 points at 35-25 with 2:36. Okogie's three-pointer once helped the Suns chase a seven-point gap, and Reggie Jackson scored four straight points to give the Nuggets a 41-30 lead over the Suns in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Nuggets blossomed more points and continued to extend their lead. With 5:18 left to go, Watson hit a jumper to give the Nuggets a 60-43 lead to 17 points. Gordon hit two consecutive three-pointers, Durant turned on scoring mode, and the Suns hit a scoring climax late in the second quarter. At halftime, the Suns trailed 63-70, and Durant surpassed Moses Malone to move up to 10th place on the all-time scoring list.
Gordon hit a three-pointer with 7:27 left in the third quarter to put the Suns up by nine points at 73-82 and the Nuggets called a timeout. After the pause, the Nuggets' offense still did not improve, and they could only rely on Jokic alone, on the other hand, the Suns were more flowering, Nurkic scored 6 points in a row, and the Suns chased it to 85-88. At the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets led by just three points, 94-91.
Allen hit a three-pointer in the final quarter, the Suns tied it at 94-94, and the Nuggets called a timeout. After the timeout, the two sides were deadlocked on the court, Porter hit a dry shot, Pope hit a 3-pointer and a 100-step jump, and the Nuggets scored five straight points to lead the Suns by six points at 114-108, and the Suns called a timeout at 2:31. Durant and Nurkic's free throws once helped the Suns chase 111-114. Jokic made free throws and layups to help the Nuggets lead by six points at 117-111 in the final 24 seconds, and the game was out of suspense. In the end, the Nuggets won the game 119-111.