The Suns beat the Nuggets again and rose to No. 7! The counterattack came to a quasi-triple-double, and Durant hit 30+13+5 caps, both offensive and defensive
On March 28, Beijing time, in the NBA regular season, the Suns defeated the Nuggets 104-97 on the road, and the team won this tough battle. In this game, Durant scored 30 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks on 12-of-18 shooting, dominating the game on both offensive and defensive ends, but there were also 8 turnovers, Booker contributed 17 points and 9 assists, and Beal 10 points and 7 assists. Jokic had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 10 assists, Gordon had 18 points, and Porter Jr. had 16 points and 7 rebounds.
This is the third meeting between the two sides this season, the first two times the Suns and Nuggets won one each, the most recent of which was a 10-point win over the Nuggets on the road, and the team still has a certain advantage over the Nuggets. In this game, the Nuggets' core guard Murray was unable to play, and Jokic led the team to meet the Suns challenge at home.
In the first quarter of the game, the two teams were fighting on the offensive end, and no one could open up the difference, Beal and Booker worked at the same time, and the two players combined to score 19 points, plus Durant's 5 points, the Suns scored 24 points in the first quarter of 29 points were scored by the Big Three. On the Nuggets side, the team scored more evenly, Jokic only scored 2 points, but handed out 4 assists, Gordon, Porter, Pope and Gillespie all performed well, and the team also scored 29 points in a single quarter. The two teams were tied in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Durant played an offensive and defensive performance, scoring 9 points and 3 blocks in 4 of 6 in a single quarter, Allen and Gordon also hit three points successively, and the team exploded 30-23 in a single quarter, beating the Nuggets by 7 points. At the end of the half, the Suns held a seven-point lead, and the team took the initiative in the game.
In the third quarter, the Nuggets offense still didn't shoot, and although Jokic scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting to carry the team's offense, the rest of the players were not in good shape, scoring only 11 points in total. Under the leadership of Durant, the Suns won by 3 points again in a single quarter, and after the first three quarters of the game, the Suns had a 10-point lead and successfully widened the difference to double digits.
In the final quarter of the game, the Nuggets tried to catch up with the difference, but the Suns were always able to respond, Durant and Allen hit key shots one after another, and with 2 minutes left in the game, the Suns still held a 13-point lead. Although Reggie and Porter scored four points in a row to close the gap, the Suns held on to their lead with little game time left and eventually beat the mighty defending champions on the road for their second win of the season.
After winning this game, the Suns rose to 7th place in the West, 0.5 wins behind the Mavericks in sixth place in the West, and the next 9 games of the team, the opponent is not weak, if the team can maintain the offensive and defensive intensity of the Nuggets, then they have a chance to break into the top six in the West and avoid entering the play-offs.