Denver Nuggets win fourth-straight with victory over the Phoenix Suns

In the highest scoring game of the NBA season, the Denver Nuggets (10-6) won their fourth-straight game with a 138-133 victory over the Phoenix Suns (8-9) on Sunday 28 November at the
Pepsi Center in Denver. For the Suns, it was their fifth loss in their last seven games.

With Carmelo Anthony playing only three minutes due to illness, the Nuggets were led by J.R. Smith, who made six three-pointers to finish with 30 points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes
off the bench. Chauncey Billups was 4-for-6 from three-point range on his way to 25 points and eight assists while three players – Arron Afflalo, Gary Forbes, and Ty Lawson – finished with 15 points apiece. Nene chipped in with 12 points and nine rebounds
while Shelden Williams had 14 and seven in 18 minutes of play.

The Suns were led by Jason Richardson, who was 7-for-10 from deep to finish with a game-high 39 points to go along with ten rebounds. Steve Nash had a double-double with 17 points and
11 assists while Josh Childress had 15 points and five rebounds off the bench. Hedo Turkoglu added 13 points off the bench while starters Grant Hill and Channing Frye finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Starting power forward Hakim Warrick had eight
points and nine rebounds on the night.

There wasn’t much defence being played as both teams managed to shoot over 50 per cent from the field with the Nuggets shooting 16-for-30 from three-point range while the Suns were 13-for-32
from deep.

Phoenix was outplayed in the first two quarters to give Denver a 68-57 lead at the break. The Suns fought back to within eight points in the third quarter but six straight free throws
by the Nuggets and a three-pointer by Smith put Denver up 14. They would enter the final frame up 105-89.

With the Nuggets up 115-99, the Suns went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to seven points. When Richardson hit two straight three-pointers, the Suns were down only five points with just over
two minutes remaining. With 22.5 seconds remaining, Nash made a three-point play to cut the lead to 132-131. After two made free throws by Billups, Nash missed a three-pointer that would have tied it and the Nuggets clinched it down the stretch with free throws.

What they said

Denver coach George Karl told reporters after the game that defence wasn’t exactly a priority in this one. “It was a unique game. I think everybody enjoyed the game except the coach who
coaches defence.”

Suns coach Alvin Gentry joked about the same thing after the game. “You can’t win a game where you don’t guard anybody. You got to guard one person. Even if we guard George Karl, we got
to guard somebody.”

Richardson said the lead the Nuggets had was too much to overcome. “They had us down big and we just kept on fighting and got back into the game. At that point it was kind of too late.”