They needed to fend off a second-half surge from the Suns, but the Nuggets held on Friday in Phoenix for a 119-111 win over one of the top contenders in the West.
Denver (14-6) shot 57% from the field and only turned the ball over nine times to win its fourth consecutive game. Next is the end of a road back-to-back Saturday at Sacramento.
Jokic v. Nurkic
As of late, the assists have been piling up for Nikola Jokic. He matched a career-high with 18 in New Orleans two weeks ago, and he has now averaged 12 in his last five games since getting ejected in Detroit. The first half in Phoenix was the clearest example so far this season of Jokic opting to fully be a distributor over a scorer. He had a unique line of six points (four shot attempts), two rebounds and 10 assists at halftime.
Things changed in the third quarter. Jokic and former teammate Jusuf Nurkic started to go at it in an old-school, physical post battle at both ends. Jokic attempted nine shots in the quarter, starting 4 for 5 before missing his last four as Phoenix rallied. More pressingly, he was inconsistent at defending Nurkic, who amassed a season-high 31 points on 13-of-22 shooting on the night.
But the Joker got the last laugh. Leading 114-111 and needing a late stop, he caught an elbow in the face from his counterpart. The offensive foul was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant, fouling Nurkic out with 45 seconds remaining.
Jokic made one of two ensuing foul shots and a driving layup with 24 seconds left, effectively ending the game as Nurkic watched. Jokic finished with 21 points and 16 dimes.
Absences are revealing regarding minutes
Michael Malone has said openly this season that his instinct when needing a win is to turn to his veterans more than his inexperienced players. Case in point was Denver’s front-court on Friday. Zeke Nnaji was not part of Malone’s nine-man rotation, even though there was plenty of room for him with Aaron Gordon (heel strain) missing his third consecutive game. Michael Porter Jr. started at the four again while DeAndre Jordan backed up Jokic at the five, but interestingly, the Nuggets did lean heavily on Peyton Watson to match up on Kevin Durant.
After a 22-point first half in which Durant looked as un-guardable as ever, Watson and company did a respectable job bottling him up by disrupting his shots just enough. He shot 0-for-10 from the field in the second half.
Jamal Murray was out again one game after returning from his right hamstring strain. This time, the Nuggets were being careful with Murray’s ankle after he turned it two minutes into Wednesday’s game. Again, Malone relied on veterans. Justin Holiday started again, scoring 15 points, while Reggie Jackson added 20. They combined to shoot 14 of 19.
A trend on the road
It was easy to ignore during an immaculate first half for the Nuggets’ offense, but a recurring topic felt accentuated as the Suns rallied from down 16 in the third.
This was the Nuggets’ fifth road game attempting 14 or fewer free throws this season. At their worst in road losses, it has been an indictment on their aggressiveness. This time, it was more of a side effect as they matched a season-high in team assists. But Durant created offense by getting to the line out of necessity in the second half, so it nonetheless felt like a problem that Denver wasn’t also earning freebies.
The Nuggets ended up 7 for 12 at the line, continuing to be one of the worst teams in the league at converting.