Recap: Phoenix Suns Fall to Denver Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns fell to the Denver Nuggets in a battle of two elite championship contenders at less than full strength in a 119-111 contest.

The Suns battled back from double-digit deficits on several occasions, but simply just could not capitalize on any opportunities to take the lead, and Denver ran with the Suns' failures to convert. 

There was a silver lining on an otherwise disappointing night, as Kevin Durant entered the NBA's all-time top 10 scoring list in the waning moments of the first half. 

First Half

Suns coach Frank Vogel decided to go with a starting five of Eric Gordon, Grayson Allen, Keita Bated-Diop, Kevin Durant, and Jusuf Nurkic tonight.

Denver opted for a starting unit of Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Justin Holiday, and Nikola Jokic. 

Denver started off with a quick strike, winning the jump ball followed by a Justin Holiday corner three to get the scoring started. 

Nurkic quickly responded with a sweet post hook to start the scoring for Phoenix. Kevin Durant started his quest to become a top 10 scorer in NBA history tonight with a pull-up three pointer from the top of the key to answer another Holiday basket. 

The Nurkic-Durant duo continued to be on a roll, with the two combining for Phoenix's first 15 points of the night. 

A Nurkic three-pointer forced Denver head coach Michael Malone to burn the first timeout of the game at the 8:31 mark of the first quarter, with Phoenix leading 15-14. 

Gordon broke the Nurkic-Durant scoring streak with a quick dribble drive and layup finish off the glass, giving Phoenix a 19-16 lead. 

A Michael Porter Jr. floater gave Denver a 20-19 lead about halfway into the first quarter, in which Jordan Goodwin and Nassir Little entered the game. 

Goodwin came in and made an instant impact, with a sweet cut and finish to put Phoenix up again. 

A Porter Jr.-led scoring streak forced Vogel to burn a timeout at the 4:54 mark of the quarter, with Denver now leading 26-23.

Denver subsequently went on a 9-2 run to build up a 10-point lead, which forced Vogel to burn a second timeout at the 2:36 mark of the quarter. 

The lineup coming out of the timeout was Goodwin-Gordon-Okogie-Little-Eubanks. 

A Josh Okogie three with just over a minute left sunk the Denver lead to seven.

Okogie continued his high-impact play into the second, playing hard-nosed defense and scoring to bring the score to a 49-39 deficit. 

Vogel burned another timeout at 7:31 after a Christian Braun bucket. 

Denver continued their hot shooting and stingy defense, building a 60-45 lead with 4:38 left in the half. 

A Reggie Jackson three put Denver up 16.

Denver continued that lead for much of the rest of the half, forcing another Suns timeout with 2:47 left in the half.

Phoenix ended the half on a torrent, with Durant leading the squad on a run that brought Denver's lead down to 7 at the half.

Second Half

The two teams started out the half trading buckets, with Nurkic reaching 15 points for the night against his former squad. 

Denver expanded the lead to 12 shortly thereafter behind a duo of Reggie Jackson baskets. 

Nurkic answered and continued his hot shooting night with yet another three-point hit to bring Denver's lead back down to nine. 

Two uncharacteristic Jokic misses from the free-throw line seemingly lead to a stretch of disjoint on the offensive side of the ball for Denver that was short-lived. 

Eric Gordon continued a hot-shooting night, draining a catch-and-shoot three to force a Denver timeout at the 7:27 mark in the third quarter. 

Nurkic responded to a questionable charge call with a soft-touch post hook to bring Denver's lead down to three. Nurkic attacked Jokic once again with another sweet post move, and a blocked Jokic shot lead to a Nassir Little layup that forced a Denver timeout with 2:06 left in the third. 

Denver lead 91-89 at this point. 

Durant just missed a three-point look off the front of the rim to close the third quarter. Denver went into the fourth leading 94-91.

Grayson Allen knocked down a bold pull-up three to tie the game at 94 with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter. 

A thunderous Josh Okogie outback dunk tied the game at 98 with just around 8 minutes to go in the game. Justin Holiday quickly answered to help Denver hit 100 points for the night, which in turn forced another Suns timeout at the 7:42 mark of the quarter. 

The next several minutes were somewhat uneventful before a circus shot form Nurkic put Phoenix down 107-106 with less than four minutes to play.

A Kentavious Caldwell-Pope corner three off of a Jokic kick-out with 2:31 left forced Vogel to burn the Suns penultimate timeout. Denver lead 114-108 at this point.

A Jusuf Nurkic flagrant foul on Nikola Jokic virtually put the game on ice, as Denver boasted a 117-111 lead with 24 seconds to go.

Denver took the game at the end, winning by 8 and dropping the Suns to 11-8 on the season.

The Suns will be at home once again tomorrow night and will have a prime opportunity to get back in the win column in a matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.