Denver Nuggets humiliate Phoenix Suns 110-85: NBA Preseason Recap
Just two days ago, Denver Nuggets had beaten the Phoenix Suns by 17 points in game one of their preseason series.
Tonight, the Suns were playing at their home, looking to make it even. However, they failed to use the home court advantage as Nuggets again crushed them 110-85.
Denver got off to a solid start and dominated the first quarter. However in the second frame, they slipped up on the defence, allowing the Suns to get back in the game. The second half though had another twist in store as the Bronchos
first regained the lead in the third quarter and then opened the deciding period with a 16-3 run to push the Suns completely out of the game.
Danilo Gallinari marshalled the Nuggets with a game high 23 points on an accurate 9 - of - 9 from the charity stripe. Corey Brewer finished with 20 points while Kosta Koufos completed a double-double by scoring 15 points and 11
rebounds. Demarre Carroll had 14 points for the winners.
The Suns entered this game without their forward Marcin Gortat, who fractured his thumb in a practice game few days back; however a bigger disappointment for team tonight was Steve Nash. Nash looked completely offbeat and finished
with just 5 points on a meagre 2 for 9 from the floor. With Gortat out and Nash below par, the Suns struggled offensively.
The Suns shot 37 percent from the field, 30 percent from the long range and 63 percent from the free throw line.
Jared Dudley was the most outstanding player for Suns, powering them with 17 points on a 3 for 4 from downtown. Hakim Warrick pounded 15 points while Shannon Brown had 14 points on the night.
After a dismal first quarter, the Suns recovered well in the second and almost finished with a one point lead, had Carroll not drilled a three in the last few seconds.
Phoenix eventually got ahead in the 4th minute of the third frame when Dudley netted one from outside the arc, however the lead was only short lived as Nuggets made it 60 all few minutes later.
What followed next was a 10-0 spurt from Nuggets that put them in a commanding position and propelled them to a 79-71 advantage after three.
Carrying the momentum into the next frame, the Nuggets bolted off a 16-3 run in the opening minutes to pull away. Suns never managed to recover and lost by a mammoth margin in the end.
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