130 - 112

Box Scores: NBA - Yahoo

GAME SUMMARY

Location: Mortgage Matchup Center

Officials: Pat Fraher, Phenizee Ransom, and Danielle Scott

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Denver Nuggets	30	33	33	34	130
Phoenix Suns	25	35	25	27	112

TEAM STATS

Team	PTS	FG	FG%	3P	3P%	FT	FT%	OREB	TREB	AST	PF	STL	TO	BLK
Denver Nuggets	130	44-76	57.9%	22-38	57.9%	20-21	95.2%	10	48	36	20	2	16	5
Phoenix Suns	112	39-88	44.3%	14-42	33.3%	20-26	76.9%	11	41	23	23	11	7	2

PLAYER STATS


Denver Nuggets	MIN	PTS	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	ORB	DRB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	±
Spencer Jones^SF	27:15	16	6-10	4-6	0-0	4	5	9	1	0	1	1	4	9
Peyton Watson^PF	27:36	11	3-4	1-1	4-4	1	4	5	3	0	0	0	2	17
Nikola Jokić^C	31:24	26	7-7	2-2	10-11	3	6	9	10	0	0	5	1	16
Cameron Johnson^SG	34:58	15	5-9	3-6	2-2	0	4	4	4	0	1	3	2	11
Jamal Murray^PG	36:32	24	8-18	5-10	3-3	0	3	3	4	1	0	5	2	16
Tim Hardaway Jr.	27:26	23	8-14	7-11	0-0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	2	10
Bruce Brown	27:01	4	2-6	0-1	0-0	1	1	2	10	1	1	1	3	4
Zeke Nnaji	08:05	2	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	-1
Jonas Valančiūnas	15:14	9	4-6	0-0	1-1	1	2	3	3	0	1	1	3	-1
Curtis Jones	01:29	0	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3
Hunter Tyson	01:29	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	3
Jalen Pickett	01:29	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Tamar Bates	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Christian Braun	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aaron Gordon	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DaRon Holmes II	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Julian Strawther	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Phoenix Suns	MIN	PTS	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	ORB	DRB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	±
Dillon Brooks^SF	27:56	27	10-18	2-6	5-6	1	2	3	2	1	0	2	5	-16
Royce O’Neale^PF	29:09	15	6-13	3-10	0-0	2	4	6	1	2	0	0	4	-13
Oso Ighodaro^C	31:48	8	4-4	0-0	0-3	2	6	8	3	2	0	1	2	-1
Grayson Allen^SG	25:48	10	4-11	2-7	0-0	1	0	1	3	2	0	0	3	-5
Devin Booker^PG	35:18	24	5-11	0-4	14-15	1	3	4	7	1	0	1	3	-16
Collin Gillespie	28:39	12	4-11	4-8	0-0	0	0	0	2	1	1	1	0	-23
Nick Richards	07:14	0	0-2	0-0	0-0	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	3	-11
Jordan Goodwin	15:04	8	3-7	2-3	0-0	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	-8
Nigel Hayes-Davis	13:13	0	0-3	0-1	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	-7
Jamaree Bouyea	14:36	3	1-4	0-1	1-2	1	1	2	3	1	1	0	1	7
Khaman Maluach	03:45	0	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Koby Brea	03:45	0	0-1	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1
Rasheer Fleming	03:45	5	2-2	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Ryan Dunn	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jalen Green	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Isaiah Livers	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mark Williams	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Diablos1042 | Suns

104 | 2 days ago

OKC into Denver back to back is a bad combo what can you do

facundo-campazzo | West

25 | 2 days ago

At least the b2b was in Phoenix. Would have been worse if it was OKC then Denver.

whobang3r | Nuggets

13 | 2 days ago

Would it? Nuggets better on the road all of a sudden.

kingofnick | Suns

1 | 2 days ago

Unfortunately we’ve actually already done that this season.

mercfan3

4 | a day ago

Yeah. Great teams and Phoenix had to play them without half of their team back to back.

Suns have been a ton of fun this season, and are likely going to be annoying to play in the playoffs. They showed a lot of heart in this two games, but unsurprisingly ran out of gas. Our bigs do need to learn how to set screens though…

Denver is a great team, even while missing half of their team. Joker is the best player in the league - period. Quite frankly, they aren’t going to lose two in a row..

Rooting for them of the Championship contenders. Go get my boy Cam Johnson a ring, please.

ilikekittens2018

80 | 2 days ago

THJ was a demon on the threes tonight

IllegitimateRisk | Nuggets

31 | 2 days ago

It’s cool if he’s streaky when he can score 20+ off the bench when need be

penguin_torpedo | Nuggets

6 | 2 days ago

Lol I don’t think we’ve caught the bad side of his streakiness yet

Healthy_Match_2878

8 | a day ago

We have quite a few games hes bricked everything. What the other teams fans dont get, is anyone with even the capability of doing this at all off the bench is an absolute revelation for Denver. His downside streakiness is just the Nuggets normal for the past 3 years.

Hydrophobic_Stapler | Raptors

20 | 2 days ago

I used to think MPJ was streaky, but in comparison… must be something with the Jrs. My impression so far this season is that THJ is either going to be hotter than the Sun (literally this game) or shooting like a drunk dude who thinks he’s playing darts.

ManyCookies | Nuggets

68 | 2 days ago

Expected to beat up the Wemby-less Spurs and struggle on the b2b against the Suns. Games got swapped.

Less-Tax5637 | Supersonics

17 | 2 days ago

Fox is the bait and Vassell is the trap

amidon1130 | Hawks

11 | 2 days ago

Expected to beat the trash wizards and struggle against the Cavs, anything can happen in any game

TemperatureXtreme

13 | 2 days ago

Good thing is that all the games lost were by 3 points or below, bad thing is Denver lost majority of clutch games this season.

facundo-campazzo | West

6 | 2 days ago

They’re weirdly strong on back to backs. I think last season they had the best 2NB2B record or top 3 at least. I don’t know what’s their record this season. I don’t think they’ve lost on B2Bs.

lethalizered | Thunder

7 | 2 days ago

I don’t think they’ve lost on B2Bs.

Lost to the Kings at home on a B2B after defeating Houston on the road.

Healthy_Match_2878

1 | a day ago

Down 2 starters for both basically removes all their added depth, as everyone moves up 2 spots. It makes b2bs far more variable.

heat_fan_ | Raptors

53 | 2 days ago

Jokic with a near triple double with 100% shooting is just nuts

HashCollector

31 | 2 days ago

I’ll Never forget his 30 point 0 turnover triple double with ¹¹⁄₁₁ from the field

UnreasonableHater | Lakers

5 | 2 days ago

Thanks u/heatfan

facundo-campazzo | West

4 | 2 days ago

With a Raptors flair

facundo-campazzo | West

-4 | 2 days ago

He missed a FT.

TheTrueConnor800

7 | 2 days ago

The “near” is including the entire sentence, as in he almost had a triple double shooting 100%.

JokicOrBust | Nuggets

51 | 2 days ago

7 straight road wins. This team is so comfortable playing on the road. The Mavs game is very big game to snap 3 home game losing streak which is crazy to think of. Jamal Murray all-star bid continues

ThePlainWhiteTees | Nuggets

24 | 2 days ago

This is like the anti ²²⁄₂₃ Nuggets

Dependent-Effect6077

22 | 2 days ago

It’s weird how Denver’s extreme home-road splits have largely disappeared over the last year-plus

Last year as well 26-15 at home and 24-17 on the road that’s nothing given altitude

Friendshiping-Bazzi | Nuggets

8 | 2 days ago

Who knows man, they might lose that one too. They been losing to some easy or depleted teams, even considering AG and Braun are out

DerGovernator

10 | 2 days ago

The Spurs are the only team the Nuggets have lost to so far this season with a winning record. Warriors, Blazers, Bulls, and Kings are all below .500 right now.

rattatatouille | SAS

7 | 2 days ago

Warriors are now just above .500

Quirky-Force-4546

1 | a day ago

Yeah, your performance against good teams is more a sign of your actual strength rather than beating up on mid teams. the 2024 Nuggets beat up on bad teams but weren’t a championship caliber team. They were way better last year even with all the injuries. They would get in clutch games with better teams and win.

bwehx

35 | 2 days ago

Suns had no chance winning with Denver shooting 60% from three

Hopsalong | Nuggets

29 | 2 days ago

They were wide open all game cause they were doubling Jokic off ball. Bound to have good shooting with that kind of defense.

itsnotyellowfever | MEM

15 | 2 days ago

If they can hit their 3s the “aggressively double the shit out of Jokic off ball” defense gets thrown out the window bc the guards/forwards tasked with doing it have to throw their entire bodies into battling him for positioning every time

chickenripp | Suns

14 | 2 days ago

because Mark williams doesn’t play back to backs. we are so much worse without him. Probably wouldn’t have doubled jokic with him and just relied on his length.

Slow-Raccoon-9832

2 | 2 days ago

Yea both games against denver on the 2nd night of b2b where williams didn’t play

Healthy_Match_2878

2 | a day ago

Not doubling Jokic offball would be worse imo. You line with Denver shooting, and they were hot, but Jokic is FAR more consistent. He’ll kill you ⁸⁄₁₀ times, where Denver shooting is more 50-50.

chickenripp | Suns

1 | a day ago

I think it’s more about making the defense easier every possession. If you just have Williams 1 on 1 on jokic all game it leads to less scrambling and less ware down over the game.

Sure jokic is still gonna cook regardless. But it’s more about a compounding effect that could help the team over 48. And Williams will give jokic far greater resistance than anyone else on our roster.

Not saying it would have changed this game or anything like that. Just that everything is way harder for the suns when Williams is out

schoolhater12 | Raptors

7 | 2 days ago

I mean the Spurs did the same thing yesterday, Jokic was just a bit more aggressive today and that made all the difference. Yesterday, he basically didn’t get into the paint at all

Hopsalong | Nuggets

14 | 2 days ago

Jokic’s offense wasn’t the difference between games. Denver gave up 20+ more points vs the Spurs

schoolhater12 | Raptors

3 | 2 days ago

don’t get me wrong he and Jamal Murray were ridiculously bad on defense yesterday, but his lack of aggressiveness at the end of the 3rd quarter where Denver gave up a 15 point lead was a big part of this. He let Zeke Nnaji, bruce brown, spencer jones, peyton watson put up shots without touching the ball. The only time he looked at the rim in the 3rd quarter was a you reach i reach foul bait attempt for three free throws

Hopsalong | Nuggets

8 | 2 days ago

I am not buying your narrative

Extranationalidad | Nuggets

-2 | 2 days ago

I… hate it but this narrative aligns with my eyeballs.

Healthy_Match_2878

1 | a day ago

Yes, but re-watch it. You’re not wrong, but for the wrong reasons. Jamal was handling and running the offense. For whatever reason, maybe to prove a point, he was not passing to Jokic. Jokic didnt let this happen, it wasn’t up to him. Tbf, it was working at first and JM and roleplayers were hot, when they cool off Jamal kept passing only to them. Only game I’ve ever seen I felt that way the whole 2nd half. Was very weird

Healthy_Match_2878

2 | a day ago

If anyone didn’t watch it, Jokic just straight up didn’t get the ball. He was not passed to in the 2nd half of the Spurs game. It had nothing to do with aggression or passing up shots. It was weird to watch.

Jaybru17 | Suns

6 | 2 days ago

Nuggets were making a lot of contested 3s tonight too. Insane shooting night

CruzAndChill

5 | 2 days ago

Not entirely true, THJ was hitting contested threes one after another, and that’s what killed Phoenix. Oh, and Nick Richards’ minutes were brutal too.

sloBrodanChillosevic | Supersonics

1 | 2 days ago

Didn’t get to watch tonight and was wondering why he only had 7 shot attempts

bot_nah

2 | 2 days ago

Suns have been letting opp shoot 34% from 3 this season.

Rockets made 42%. Thunder made 47. Now nuggets made 58%

MileHi49er | Nuggets

31 | 2 days ago

Man. Jokic is the worst stat padder ever. Only needed 1 more rebound for the triple double and happily stepped aside to let Spencer Jones get the boards.

Some of you just look for any reason to hate lol

pmill2447

15 | 2 days ago

He was hunting a Sombor double. Jokic now has 68 in his career, only 7 away from Oscar Robertson’s 75.

MileHi49er | Nuggets

12 | 2 days ago

If Jokic was truly a stat padder he would have already surpassed Russell in career TDs around the end of 2023. Lol

rambunctious_horsie | Raptors

28 | 2 days ago

Bruce Brown 10 assists, that’s great. Better having him come off the bench to run the point.

Apotheosis62 | Nuggets

22 | 2 days ago

If Spencer Jones fuck ass jump shot is actually real over a reasonable sample he’s going to be real good

PaleoclassicalPants | Nuggets

16 | 2 days ago

I have no idea how every shot isn’t wide to the right with that form.

Apotheosis62 | Nuggets

14 | 2 days ago

Shoots it to the left so it goes straight

regular_gonzalez

3 | 2 days ago

My wife and I were at the game and I couldn’t get over how awkward his form looks. Kept thinking “that’s not even gonna be close” only for him to splash it.

_Tar_Ar_Ais_

4 | 2 days ago

I don’t know how it works, but it does. Just like RF/Signals to me

itsnotyellowfever | MEM

21 | 2 days ago

Jokic dominant in a win where he shot 7 times vs. an absolute disaster last night when he had to be bullied to shoot 10 times

jhinius44444

1 | 2 days ago

no, he just chose not to shoot, today too, idk what kind off gimmick this is tbh

jonsnowKITN | NBA

29 | 2 days ago

his wrist is clearly bothering him

Apotheosis62 | Nuggets

17 | 2 days ago

The gimmick is his wrist is fucked and they’re scoring 130 points anyway

lesarbreschantent | Kings

2 | a day ago

Same wrist thing he had last year? They can’t fix it?

Apotheosis62 | Nuggets

1 | a day ago

Its been this way for like 4 years it occasionally flairs up and he has like ~2 weeks of games like this.

Its either something that would take an extensive surgery to fix like 4+ months out which is time he hasn’t had between playoff runs Olympics and euro basket in a long time or its just something that doesn’t get fixed by a surgery and he has to just cope.

ilikekittens2018

9 | 2 days ago

Didn’t it look like his wrist was bothering him last night?

Kvsav57

11 | 2 days ago

Of course it was. Watch him take it up the floor last night. Every single time he only used his right hand, even when he should have crossed the dribble over. No idea why people think he was just not aggressive or something.

the_mexican_menace | Nuggets

-10 | 2 days ago

he put in quite literally zero effort these past two games lol

bigtice | Rockets

18 | 2 days ago

The most surprising thing about this game was Jokic not getting that final rebound to finish his triple double.

Outside of that, Hardaway Jr. is having fun with this team just being a sniper as a 6^th man knocking down three after three.

waveshineoosupsmash

8 | 2 days ago

It’s called a sombor double

Friendshiping-Bazzi | Nuggets

19 | 2 days ago

I feel like Booker has been extremely underwhelming recently. Even feels like the other DB doing more damage so far this season for them

kingofnick | Suns

9 | 2 days ago

Even feels like the other DB doing more damage

I mean, that’s because of how much attention Booker gets. He’s been one of, if not the most double teamed and trapped players in the league, and Brooks gets to thrive off that.

Don’t get it wrong though, Book has been in a slump for a good few games though.

CelestialWarrior- | Knicks

7 | 2 days ago

The man has no faith in his shot idk what happen to him this season. It’s disappointing

Friendshiping-Bazzi | Nuggets

7 | 2 days ago

Ikr he’s one of my favorites to watch especially when he can go on a heater like nobody else

caandjr

9 | 2 days ago

He’s a good but not great playmaker, Suns still more dangerous now than last year with KD

Unique-Ad-2544

5 | 2 days ago

His kryptonite is being doubled and unfortunately for him that is every single teams plan against him

bot_nah

3 | 2 days ago

Yeah, he was at 40% from 3 just a couple of games ago. He’s at 32 now (or before this game)

I feel like he’s trying too hard at playmaking. It’s understandable, but he has to go back to his strength of mid ranger jumpers. He can’t keep relying on free throws either

mercfan3

3 | a day ago

The defense against Book is “anyone but Booker is scoring.” He dribbles and there is three players on him every game.

And Booker has changed/grown up since the Olympics. He’s gonna pass when teams do that, and Collin/Brooks/Allen/Royce have taken advantage. But I think people are so used to Book forcing the issue, and he’s just not gonna do that anymore.

And honestly, Book’s stats are worse for it but Phoenix is better for it. There are a whole lot of confident guys playing above their station - and they don’t do that if Book doesn’t trust them. And the Suns wouldn’t be playing well above expectations if Book didn’t trust them either.

Now, two things are going on besides this that are hurting Book too. First, he’s in a three point shooting slump. He gets hot and cold from there, so it’s not too big of a deal. But it would shake up the defense if he’d do it.

Second, the only player on the team who sets quality screens is Booker..which doesn’t really allow Booker to run off of screens and get open shots. Team needs to just run those drills to they get it.

CruzAndChill

-2 | 2 days ago

Has no 3-ball, a weak handle, and is a turnover machine on doubles. Playmaking is still decent, but yeah, he’s in a major slump.

BruceBrownMVP | Nets

15 | 2 days ago

Bruce brown masterclass

chickenripp | Suns

15 | 2 days ago

2nd night of a back to back against the 2 best teams in the league. Mark williams doesn’t play back to backs and the nugs have jokic. Nugs shot 58/58/95. tonights L is what it is.

CruzAndChill

3 | 2 days ago

Yeah Mark would have changed this game for sure. But can appreciate Suns managing his load (whoa)

New_Essay_4869 | Thunder

8 | 2 days ago

Jokic is just unfair

matthews_land | Suns

10 | 2 days ago

Keep our heads up, we’ve been competing with two of our starters missing. Just got burnt on a back to back.

Slow-Raccoon-9832

8 | 2 days ago

It’s going to be rough. The suns are in the middle of the toughest stretch of schedule any nba team has all season long

Renegadeforever2024 | Raptors

7 | 2 days ago

Jokic heard the slander

cleansilverware | Rockets

8 | 2 days ago

Always wanted the Rockets to have a bullshitter like Buddy Hield or THJ on the team

Glove_Upset

6 | 2 days ago

In addition to all the rest of Hunter Tyson’s many basketball sins, he stole Spencer’s 10th rebound tonight and left him with a Stanford single

Dangerous_Bit_8612

5 | 2 days ago

This team is gonna be even better once cam starts getting out of his shell even more having jokic is gonna increase his potential but he has been playing amazing lately

CruzAndChill

4 | 2 days ago

Insane shooting from Denver tonight, nothing you can do about that.

Outrageous-Maybe-200 | Nuggets

4 | 2 days ago

I swear Brooks hasn’t balled like this before this season

yum_paste

3 | 2 days ago

26 points on 7 shots. What

Glove_Upset

2 | 2 days ago

Grayson Allen and Booker didn’t go off against us, which is nice for a change.

The Denver Nuggets (14-5) defeat the Phoenix Suns (12-9), 130-112.