It took two NBA seasons, but the Denver Nuggets finally got some revenge against the Phoenix Suns. In 2021, the Nuggets were swept in the Western Conference semifinals by the Suns; this year, they turned the tables and eliminated Phoenix in six games.
Denver took full advantage of Phoenix being short-handed as they were without Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton in Game 6. The Nuggets won going away, blowing out the Suns 125-100. This was the second consecutive postseason that the Suns were eliminated at home in embarrassing fashion as the Dallas Mavericks also ran them out of the gym in 2022.
Leading the way once again for Denver on Thursday night was Nikola Jokic. He added another triple-double to his record-setting number, recording 32 points with 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
“We were the aggressors the whole game,” Jokic said. “Especially the first half. We were just really good.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets & Phoenix Suns Updates
The Nuggets received major contributions from different players throughout the postseason. On Thursday, it was Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s turn. Murray scored 26 points with four rebounds, four assists and four steals while Caldwell-Pope scored a postseason career-high-tying 21 points with five rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
“When we defend, when we rebound, when we run, when we share the ball, we believe we’re the best team in the NBA,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “And tonight, we showed it.”
The Suns had no answers for the Nuggets, as the lack of depth became too much to overcome. Struggling to get stops, the Suns were down by 30 points at halftime as Denver got whatever they wanted on both ends of the court.
“It was deflating to see them score like that and running down the floor getting easy buckets,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “That falls on my shoulders not having us ready to play at the highest level in the biggest game of the year.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets & Phoenix Suns Updates
Jock Landale did what he could replacying Ayton in the starting lineup, scoring 13 points with five rebounds. For the first time all postseason, Devin Booker was stymied as the Suns held him to a playoff low 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Kevin Durant wasn’t much better, shooting 8-of-19 on the evening for 23 points with five rebounds and five assists. The leading scorer for Phoenix was actually Cameron Payne, who set eight different playoff career highs on Thursday night, including 32 points scored.
“It was a bad feeling,” Durant said. “It was embarrassing. They came out and got us in the mouth and we couldn’t recover.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets & Phoenix Suns Updates
While the Suns’ offseason will begin earlier than they had hoped, the Nuggets are now playing the waiting game to see who they will face off against in the Western Conference Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are set to play Game 6 of their series on Friday night with Los Angeles leading 3-2.
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