Nuggets-Suns Preview

By BRETT HUSTON
Posted Nov 11 2012 9:48PM

A general lack of accuracy has kept the Denver Nuggets from being the scoring machine many thought they'd be, but they've still managed to win four straight after opening the season with three consecutive losses.

Perhaps they'll find their shooting touch against the Phoenix Suns.

Denver has shot better than 50 percent and averaged nearly 120 points during a six-game winning streak against the Suns heading into Monday night's matchup at US Airways Center.

The Nuggets (4-3) shot 42.7 percent while opening the season 0-3, and though they've connected on just 42.5 percent of their shots since then, they haven't lost. Denver shot 32.7 percent in the first half Saturday at Golden State, but held off the Warriors 107-101 in double overtime.

Golden State shot 38.2 percent for the game, the fourth time George Karl's team held an opponent under 39.0 percent. The Nuggets, who led the NBA in scoring last season but allowed the second-most points, only held eight teams below that mark last season.

"Our defense is winning us games," Karl told the league's official website. "Kenneth (Faried's) energy on the boards and the offensive rebounds are giving us extra possessions so that we can survive shooting the ball as poorly as we're shooting it right now."

Faried has certainly made a difference, averaging 17.8 points and 12.6 rebounds - more than half of which have come on the offensive end - in the past five games.

Faried helped the Nuggets sweep the Suns (3-4) last season, averaging 14.3 points and 10.3 boards in less than 27 minutes a game. Denver has won six straight in the series by an average of 15.4 points, putting up 119.7 points per game and shooting 50.8 percent.

Phoenix certainly doesn't figure to end that skid if it plays anything like it did Saturday. A night after rallying from 26 down to beat Cleveland, the Suns shot 36.8 percent and were outrebounded 52-37 in a 94-81 loss at Utah.

"I don't think we were flat," coach Alvin Gentry said. "You have to get the ball in the basket ... Our defense was pretty good. During one stretch (we made) eight out of 10 stops and we didn't make up any ground because we didn't get the ball in the basket on the other end."

Phoenix's defense hasn't been good very often thus far. The Suns are allowing 103.4 points per game and opponents are shooting 43.5 percent from 3-point range - each among the worst marks in the NBA.

Gentry's team is shooting 30.3 percent from long distance, a problem that's partially due to the struggles of Michael Beasley. Looking to rejuvenate his career in Phoenix, Beasley isn't off to a very good start as he's averaged 12.9 points and shot 34.7 percent - 25.9 from deep.

Poor starts, in fact, might be the Suns' biggest issue. They're allowing an NBA-high 28.7 points per game in the first quarter, and have trailed by a combined 31 points after 12 minutes in their past two contests.

"It's very difficult. You give up one quarter or lose focus one quarter or two quarters, sometimes three quarters," forward Luis Scola said. "We were down 26 (Friday) and ended up winning, but how many times can you do that? We need to be more solid and play 48 minutes. If we play 48 minutes, we'll be OK."

Scola's numbers, surprisingly, have had little to do with Phoenix's success so far. The Suns are 0-4 when he scores at least 15 points and 3-0 when he scores 13 or fewer.

Dragic, Suns snap Denver's 4-game streak 110-100

By BOB BAUM
Posted Nov 13 2012 12:36AM

PHOENIX (AP) For the first time in almost exactly two years the Phoenix Suns finally beat the Denver Nuggets.

Goran Dragic scored 21 points, making 4 of 5 3-pointers along the way, to lead seven Phoenix players in double figures and the Suns snapped Denver's four-game winning streak 110-100 on Monday night.

The Suns had lost six straight to Denver since they last beat the Nuggets on Nov. 15, 2010.

"We've obviously struggled with that team over the past couple of years," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said, "so to be able to get a win against them and be able to get a home was important. We had a lot of guys that stepped up."

Shannon Brown added 19 points, Michael Beasley 16 and Jared Dudley 15 for Phoenix. Markieff Morris added 13 points and had a crucial steal down the stretch. Marcin Gortat and Luis Scola added 12 points apiece for the Suns, who finished the game with a 13-4 run.

Andre Iguodala scored 17 for Denver. JaVale McGee added 16, pretty much all of them on thundering dunks, and Danilo Gallinari scored 15 for the Nuggets. Kenneth Faried scored 14 on 6-of-7 shooting but didn't take a shot in the second half.

Denver outshot Phoenix 54 percent to 46 percent but committed 15 turnovers, resulting in 17 points, while the Nuggets scored nine points off the Suns' six turnovers. Phoenix also prevailed at the foul line, going 17 of 21 to Denver's 11 of 18.

"They just did a good job of picking us apart on defense," Iguodala said. "We really couldn't get any stops. They had a couple of guys that just had it going. Defensively we've been a lot better the last four games and tonight we just had some mental lapses and coverages. We were too lax in letting them get wherever they wanted to go and we didn't disrupt them enough."

Phoenix even hung on the boards with the Nuggets, the NBA's leading rebound team. Denver outrebounded Phoenix 43-40 though the Suns had a 15-8 advantage on the offensive boards.

"That was the key to the game tonight," Dragic said. "Coach was telling us that in the (pregame) meeting - all five players, don't matter if you're a small guy, you have to go in there and get the rebound."

Dragic's 3-pointer from the top of the key put Phoenix ahead 100-96 with 3:14 to play. Ty Lawson's two free throws cut it to 100-98 just 14 seconds later, then Morris made two from the line and stole the ball from Lawson, leading to Brown's fastbreak layup that made it 104-98 with 2:31 remaining.

Faried was called for traveling, then Dragic hit a 19-footer and the Suns led 106-98 with 1:38 to go. After Andre Miller made one of two free throws to close it to 106-100 with 1:19 left, the Suns put it away with baskets by Brown and Gortat.

"We had three turnovers after we cut it to one in the fourth quarter," Denver coach George Karl said. "You can't take away your possessions by making mistakes. Fundamental things that we usually win - we win offensive boards and they kicked us on the offensive boards, we usually create a lot of points off our defensive hands and they converted our turnovers into more points than we did."

The Nuggets outshot the Suns 56 percent to 40 percent in the first half but led only 57-54 at the break. Phoenix stayed close by making 13 of 15 free throws in the first two quarters to Denver's 5 of 10.

Denver led most of the third quarter and was ahead 76-71 when McGee dunked with just under 4 minutes left in the period. But Phoenix outscored the visitors 12-2 the rest of the quarter. Dudley and Beasley each hit a 3 during the run, then Dragic's 8-footer gave the Suns an 83-78 lead entering the fourth.

The Nuggets cut the lead to three early in the fourth quarter before Brown's inside basket and Gortat's dunk on a lob from Dragic made it 91-84 with 9:17 to play.

Gallinari's driving layup over Morris cut the Phoenix lead to 97-96 with 3:58 remaining, leading Suns coach Alvin Gentry to call a timeout, and the Suns pulled away from there.

NOTES: After playing Miami at home on Thursday, the Nuggets play their next three on the road. ... Phoenix improved to 3-1 at home. ... Denver lost its first three games of the season, all on the road, but had won its last two away from home. ... Dragic is the only Suns player to score in double figures in every game this season. .... Phoenix's Sebastian Telfair was initially called for a flagrant foul on Faried in the fourth quarter but it was overturned and called only a foul after officials reviewed the video.

Notebook: Suns 110, Nuggets 100

Mike Tulumello, for NBA.com
Posted Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:21 AM - Updated Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:20 AM

THE FACTS: The Phoenix Suns need to hit some shots. The Denver Nuggets need some home games.

The Suns got what they wanted, hitting enough clutch shots to fend off the visiting Nuggets 110-100 Monday night.

Both teams are now 4-4.

In coming from 10 points back early (16-6), the Suns knocked off a team that has killed them the past two seasons. The Nuggets had won six straight against Phoenix; the Suns' last win against them was two years ago (Nov. 15, 2010).

The Suns, usually one of the NBA's top shooting teams, entered the game shooting barely 42 percent, 22nd in the league. They hit nearly 46 percent in this one -- including 52 percent in the final quarter -- while committing a season-low six turnovers.

"We have good shooters," Suns guard Goran Dragic said. "We need them to space the floor and make the shots."

The Nuggets, who had their four-game win streak snapped, are in the midst of an unenviable opening schedule, with 17 of their first 23 on the road.

"Our schedule is crazy," coach George Karl said.

The Nuggets used their early-release fast-break game for 17 points in the first half; the Nuggets led 57-54 at the break. But the Suns limited them to four such points in the second half.

"We did a much better job of making them play in the halfcourt," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said.

Dragic had an excellent game with 21 points, seven assists and just two turnovers. Michael Beasley added 16 points, while Marcin Gortat had 12 points, 11 boards and two blocks.

For the Nuggets, Andre Igoudala had 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Kenneth Faried hit 6-for-7 for 14 points and 11 boards. JaVale McGee came off the bench to hit 8-for-12 for 16 points.

QUOTABLE: "Everybody is getting a little more familiar with each other ... The idea of just knowing the guy beside you a little better." -- Gentry

THE STAT: The Suns stayed almost even with the NBA's top rebounding team; the Nuggets outboarded them just 43-40.

TURNING POINT: The Nuggets had cut a Suns' 92-84 lead to 97-96 with less than 4:00 left. Then Dragic buried a 24-footer from up top, and -- after Markieff Morris hit two free throws -- Morris stole the ball from Ty Lawson. That set up a fast-break layup by Shannon Brown that made it 104-98. Dragic followed with a 19-footer with 1:38 left that gave the Suns a 106-98 lead that sealed the win.

QUOTABLE II: "I have no doubt he'll have a lot of success. That's who he is. Guys enjoy playing for him. As far as defense is concerned, it's a little different when you have a defensive player of the year (Dwight Howard). You have a good defensive team." -- Gentry on his close friend, Mike D'Antoni, taking the Lakers' job.

HOT: The Suns, hitting just 30 percent on 3-pointers, were 7-for-12 in this one.

NOT: The Nuggets made only 11-for-18 from the free-throw line.

IN THE ARENA: The Monday night crowd, announced at 14,060, had to be one of the smallest ever since the building opened 20 years ago. There appeared to be fewer than 10,000, and many were members of the military and veterans who were guests of the Suns.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Brown continues to be effective as a Suns' sixth man. He is averaging 14.4 points.

NOTABLE: Morris broke out of his season-opening seven-game slump to play his best game by far. He had 13 points and six boards. He even hit his first 3-pointer this season after missing his first seven. "It feels like I haven't hit one since 2007," he said.

UP NEXT: For the Nuggets, Thursday vs Miami, Saturday @ San Antonio, Monday @ Memphis. For the Suns, Wednesday vs. Chicago, Friday @ L.A. Lakers, Saturday vs. Miami.

• Nuggets: Miller, Stone
• Suns: Frye, O'Neal

• Nuggets: --
• Suns: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #73 Tre Maddox, #59 Gary Zielinski
• Attendance: 14060
• Duration: 2:12