Denver Nuggets rout Steve Nash - less Phoenix Suns 109-92 - NBA Recap
Phoenix Suns were expected to struggle tonight in absence of their star Steve Nash and Grant Hill, and they did that big time.
Denver Nuggets exploited the advantage perfectly and bulldozed the Suns 109-92, to improve their already impressive record to 17-12 in the shortened season.
Arron Afflalo was on fire and led the Nuggets with 20 points on 7 for 11 from the floor.
"It was huge," Afflalo said of winning at home. "It was a great win for us in Indiana but this was even more important because we've got to start establishing ourselves on our home court to let teams know it's not going to be an
easy walk here. We were running the court hard, we made a few big defensive possessions - those feed our energy."
Ty Lawson pounded 17 points on a near perfect shooting, knocking down 6 for 7 from the floor and 5 for 6 from the charity stripe while Kenneth Faried had 13 points and 9 boards.
The reserves played an important part in the win as well. Chris Andersen and Al Harrington netted 16 and 12 points respectively including 13 combined rebounds between them while Rudy Fernandez added 11 points on 2 for 3 from the
long range.
Nuggets were accurate and shot a healthy 51.3% from the floor.
Reserve Markieff Morris led the Suns with a game high 21 points on 8 for 16 from the floor while Michael Red tallied 20 points. Marcin Gortat had a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards whereas Ronnie Price also accumulated
10 points.
Suns struggled with their shooting throughout and finished with a meagre 33.3% from the floor and 37.5% from downtown.
Denver started the game with a 14-4 spurt and dominated the entire first half. They finished the first frame with a 12 point lead 33-21 and then despite a good fight from the other end in the second frame, still managed to end
the first half with a 7 point lead 58-51.
An 11-4 run, capped by Redd’s 3 pointer in the first few minutes of the third frame brought the Suns back in the game, making it 62 all, however what followed in the ensuing passage was a game deciding 24-8 spurt by Nuggets, that
helped the Nuggets to end the third frame at a 16 point lead, 86-70.
The Suns succumbed to the pressure and failed to make any sort of a comeback in the deciding quarter. Throughout the frame, the lead kept hovering around 20 points, and in the end, fittingly, the Broncos fittingly won the game
with a mammoth 17 point margin.
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