Phoenix Suns booed off court at halftime of elimination game

It was like déjà vu for the Phoenix Suns and their fans Thursday night at home against the Denver Nuggets.

Phoenix is facing elimination in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The team had to go up against two-time NBA Nikola Jokic and Co. shorthanded, as both Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul were sidelined for the elimination game.

That is no excuse for what we saw from head coach Monty Williams’ squad in the first half of this contest. Denver went on a 17-0 run to end the first quarter, taking a 44-27 lead into the second stanza. Things continued to spiral out of control for Phoenix over the next 12 minutes and the Suns fell down by the score of 81-51 at the half.

In last season’s Western Conference semifinals, the Suns had an opportunity to advance -- or go home. They hosted Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 and found themselves down 30 points at the half in that matchup before losing 123-90.

One year later and we’re witnessing the same thing. The primary characters might be different to an extent, with Kevin Durant teaming up with Devin Booker instead of Ayton and Paul. But the results were the same.

Thursday's contest was an absolute disaster class for the Phoenix Suns in front of their home crowd. It led to boo birds ringing down from the stands inside Footprint Center as halftime hit.