The Denver Nuggets lead 2-0 over the Phoenix Suns after winning at home 97-87 on Monday.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic scored 39 points, 16 rebounds and 5 assists in the win.
Phoenix’s Devin Booker scored 35 points, six assists and five rebounds in the losing effort. Kevin Durant scored a team-high 24 points and eight rebounds.
The Ball Arena crowd chanted near the end of the game, “Nuggets in 4,” a reference to the fight that broke out between the crowd last year when a Suns fan ended the fight by saying, “Suns in 4.” before sweeping Denver in the same round.
The sun goes down by 12 with less than 2 minutes to play
Phoenix is in trouble.
They trailed 95-83, Denver’s biggest lead of the game.
Phoenix trails Denver, 86-81 with 3:01 left to play as the Nuggets call timeout expires.
Denver has outscored Phoenix 8-4 since the 7:24 mark and Nikola Jokic (37 points) scored six points during that round.
Gokic, Nuggets shave the sidelines in the third minute of the third quarter
Nikola Jokic scored Denver’s final nine points in the third period to cut the Suns’ lead to 73-70 to enter the fourth.
Devin Booker scored the final five points for Phoenix.
Jokic and Booker tied on 31 points.
The sun rises 7 degrees above the Nuggets in the late third quarter
Phoenix built their biggest new lead, 68-61, over Denver at 1:51 into the third quarter.
Chris Paul left the match and went to the locker room at 4:32 due to a tight left thigh. He will not return to the game.
Phoenix leads Denver in the first timeout of the second half, 57-51 at 6:13 into the third quarter.
It’s Phoenix’s biggest lead of the game so far, going 11-2.
Phoenix enters the break ahead of Denver, 42-40.
Devin Booker scored 17 points (7 on 14 shots) after using up his second 3 points shortly after the 1-minute mark to put Phoenix ahead. Deandre Ayton has 10 points and six rebounds, and Kevin Durant has a game-high nine points and seven rebounds.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic has 13 points (6 of 12 FG), and Aaron Gordon has 10.
Phoenix coach Monte Williams went to the bench much earlier and deeper than in the first game, playing six of his second unit. Denver moved in with three players from its second unit: Jeff Green; Bruce Brown and Christian Brown as usual.
Phoenix is currently leading the rebounding fight, 25-20, after battling for the glass in Game 1 (49-38 in favor of Denver).
The Nuggets go short to retake the lead early on second down
Denver leads Phoenix 24-21 as Phoenix calls its second timeout of the game at 9:37 into the half.
Aaron Gordon got a steal from Devin Booker’s drive toward the free throw line, then went coast-to-coast for a neat and contested left-handed layup as the last bucket before both teams went to the bench for the break.
Phoenix led, 21-18, over Denver after finishing the first quarter 7-2.
Devin Booker is Phoenix’s leading scorer to date with seven points, and Denver’s Jokic is the 11th highest scorer for the game.
Phoenix tied the game at 16-16 on Kevin Durant’s mid-range jump shot, calling the first timeout at 2:33 in the opening period.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic leads all scorers with 11 points (5-of-8 shooting)
The Suns Nuggets trail on the first timeout of the game
There was a wild scramble on tip-off, which sent the ball out of bounds for the Suns’ possession. Devin Booker kicked the first field goal of the game on a drive and kicked in the left lane.
Then Nikola Jokic scored four of Denver’s first five buckets, along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
The Nuggets lead 12-10 at 6:19.
The Suns will start Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Ayton and Josh Okoji for the second straight game.
Denver’s Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and two-time quarterback Nikola Jokic start.
The Suns vs. Nuggets on Mondays on TNT.
You can check out the full schedule for the Suns vs. Nuggets NBA Playoffs are here.
USA TODAY Sports’ Sportsbook Wire has the Nuggets winning Game 2, 116-111.
He writes: “The 115.8 points a game scored by the Nuggets is only 4.2 more points than the Suns allow (111.6). Denver has a 37-16-2 record against the spread and a 47-8 record overall when scoring more than 111.6 points.” Phoenix is 33-18-2 against spread and 39-14 overall when giving up fewer than 115.8 points. The Suns score just 1.1 points per game (113.6) than the Nuggets allow (112.5).”
You can see other selections and predictions for the contest here.
The Nuggets are favored by 4.5 points over the Suns, according to the Tipico Sportbook.
Denver is -175 on the money line, while Phoenix is +150.
The game’s over/under was set at 228.5 points.
You can see more Suns vs. NBA Playoffs are here.
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