On December 2, Beijing time, the Suns sat at home to face the Nuggets, this game was broadcast live in the United States, unfortunately Murray and Gordon could not play, and the Suns were Booker and Beal who could not play, both of them were absent from the two main forces, the two sides had played each other in the playoffs, when the Suns were out 2-4, it is obvious that their goal today is revenge. Suns starters: Gordon + Allen + Durant + Diop + Nurkic, Nuggets starters: Reggie + Pope + Holiday + Porter + Jokic.
At the beginning of the game, Holiday hit a three-point shot, Nurkic was very tough, Jokic scored a hook shot, Holiday jumped, Durant scored three points, Porter dunked, Durant continued to break out, and the mid-range shot made 2+1, individuals continue to cut points, and the Nuggets are not to be outdone, Reggie scored 5 points in a row, Nurkic hit a three-point shot, Durant shot in the middle, Jokic jumped, the two teams played very intensely, Porter tossed, Goodwin made a layup, the Nuggets began to exert their strength after a pause, Pope three points, Braun made a layup, Jokic tossed, the point difference came to double digits, the round face was thrown and thrown, Jordan Jr. ate cakes, Okogie scored three points, Reggie scored 4 points in a row, the Suns did not defend at all, Eubanks pressed the whistle and threw iron, 30-41 Suns net minus 11 points in a single quarter.
Durant scored 12 points in the first quarter. At the beginning of the second quarter, Allen tossed, Strauser responded with three points, Okogie made a basket, and the round face hit a three-point shot, the Suns were just about to counterattack, Strauser and Holiday scored in a row, the Suns couldn't prevent the Nuggets, Nurkic and Watson made layups and dunks successively, and Strauser was outside** , The point difference has broken through 15 points, Vogel shouted a timeout and couldn't stop the decline, Pope and Watson continued to cut points, Nurkic and Diop responded, it was Reggie's turn to hit a three-point rush, Watson dunked violently, Durant couldn't stand it and scored consecutive points, the round face suddenly broke out, scored two three-pointers in a row, the Nuggets were not to be outdone, Pope also responded with three points, Durant shot + dunked to continue the firepower, and the Suns 63-70 Nuggets at halftime.
Halftime statistics, Durant 22 points and 4 assists, Roundface Deng 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, Okogie 7 points and 2 rebounds, Nurkic 13 points and 2 rebounds, Allen 2 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. On the Nuggets side, Jokic had 6 points, 2 rebounds and 10 assists, Porter had 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, Reggie had 14 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Pope had 12 points, 3 assists and 2 steals, Strauser had 8 points, and Holiday had 8 points.
Yibian fought again, Nurkic made a layup at the beginning, Holiday dunked, Reggie hit a three-pointer, Allen tossed, Jokic made a basket, the difference was 10 points, Nurkic actually scored three points, but Holiday of the Nuggets is also outside** , The Suns fought back tenaciously, the round face hit a three-point shot, Allen and Durant took turns to shoot free throws, Durant hatted Jokic again, the Suns played momentum, Nurkic singled Jokic hit two shots in a row, Little made a layup, the difference was only 2 points, the Nuggets hurriedly shouted a timeout, and after coming back, Durant missed three points, which was a pity, and then Durant turned over and shot or not, Braun scored a layup, Okogie made two free throws to seize the opportunity, Durant pressed the whistle three points or not, and the Suns 91-94 Nuggets at the end of the third quarter.
In the crucial final quarter of the game, can the Suns overtake the score?Allen chased three points to 94 draws, the Suns opportunity came, Porter and Braun teamed up to stabilize the situation for the Nuggets, Allen and Okogie chased 98 draws again, the two sides began to tug of war, the score was tied many times, Durant was tired to gasp for breath, missed shots one after another, Jokic shot successfully, Nuggets led by 3 points, Durant shot and was capped, Pope outside at a critical moment** , Watson hit three points, but Durant didn't score in the middle of the shot, Nurkic fouled offensively, six fouls left the court, Jokic scored a layup, Okogie didn't score three points, Porter made free throws to completely end the suspense, and finally the Nuggets beat the Suns 119-111.
Following the Western Conference finals, the Suns faced the Nuggets and lost in shame again, and the absence of Booker and Beal cannot be used as a reason, after all, Murray and Aaron Gordon did not play on the Nuggets' side, and I have to say that the Nuggets have really become the nemesis of the Suns and the Lakers. Looking at the whole court, poor defense was the main reason for the Suns' loss, the Nuggets were scoring everyone, and the Suns couldn't defend it. In terms of data, Durant was 8 of 25, 30 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists and 3 blocks, according to statistics, the total score of the Grim Reaper's career surpassed Moses Malone and rose to the tenth in NBA history. Nurkic finished Jokic with 31 points and 6 rebounds, scoring 13 points in the third quarter.
Diop 4 points, Allen 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, Eric Gordon 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, played very well, such as in the second half of the second quarter, if it weren't for Gordon hitting two three-pointers in a row, I'm afraid the Suns would have fallen behind by 20 points. Okogie had 13 points and Goodwin had two points and six rebounds.
The biggest problem of the Suns is injury, Beal is at least half a month away from his comeback, Booker often can't play, Durant is helpless, he can only carry the team forward single-core, maybe the Suns really shouldn't pursue Beal in the offseason, and keep Paul, which is much better than now. Durant, Booker and Beal, the big three have never been together this season, so you can imagine how difficult it is for the Grim Reaper. After losing to the Nuggets, the Suns suffered two consecutive defeats, losing the fourth place in the West, and were overtaken by the Mavericks and Kings.
Nuggets data, Jokic 21 points, 5 rebounds and 16 assists, the first half was mainly passing, revitalizing the whole team, and in the second half Jokic began to score, but was suppressed by Nurkic, it turned out that Nurkic is indeed better than Ayton, Reggie 20 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, continuing the hot hand of the previous games, Holiday 15 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists, Pope 15 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists and 3 steals, Porter 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. The Nuggets also had three off the bench, with Watson scoring eight points and three rebounds, Braun having eight points and four rebounds, and rookie Strauser contributing 11 points. According to reports, Murray and Gordon will both return, and the full lineup of Nuggets is coming, and after this game, the Nuggets have a record of 14-6 and continue to rank second in the West.