The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets fought into overtime in their first meeting of the season, so it was no surprised that the two teams had another back-and-forth battle on Monday night as they tipped-off in Phoenix.
Ricky Rubio returned to the Suns lineup after missing the previous game with an illness and his impact was instantly felt. The point guard got things started with a midrange jumper as the Suns took the first lead. However, the rest of the first quarter seemed to belong to the Nuggets.
Denver went up by as many as 16 points in the first half, but the Suns showed their resilience in the second quarter and began to trim the deficit. The Suns took-off on an 11-0 run, cutting the Nuggets lead to just five. Although Jerami Grant hit a three-pointer in the final seconds, the Suns trailed by just seven at the break.
Rubio looked to be in a groove in the first half as he led the Suns with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.
Booker was held scoreless in the first half, but it was only a matter of time before he started to connect with basket. The Nuggets fouled Booker during the third quarter as he went to the line and knocked down both free throws. He followed this up with a few more buckets and in what seemed like a blink of an eye had eight points and pulled the Suns right back within striking distance.
The Suns went on an 11-2 run in the third that was capped off with a Mikal Bridges fast break to bring them to within just one with under a minute to go in the quarter. Jevon Carter hit a midrange jumper in the final seconds to keep the deficit at one entering the final frame.
Frank Kaminsky began the fourth quarter with a floater to give the Suns their first lead since the opening quarter. The Suns continued to get quality buckets from all throughout their lineup as eight different players scored in double-digits. This included rookie Cam Johnson who knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the fourth to help extend the Suns lead.
Kelly Oubre Jr. played a critical role for the Suns in the fourth. Similair to Booker, Oubre had a slow start to the game offensive, but stepped up when the Suns need him most. He scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth, including tough and-ones, powerful slams and a huge three-pointer.
But with under 30 seconds remaining, down by three, the Suns put the ball into the hands of their leading scorer this season: Devin Booker.
Rubio inbounded the ball to Booker, who quickly rose up over the defense and drained the clutch three to tie the game at 111 apiece. Unfortunately, this was answered by the other Kentucky Wildcat as Denver’s Jamal Murray knocked-down a game-winning bucket in the final seconds to close-out the game with a 113-111 victory over the Suns.
BOX SCORE:
Ricky Rubio: 21 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 steal
Kelly Oubre Jr.: 14 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Dario Šarić: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Frank Kaminsky: 13 points, 3 rebounds
Mikal Bridges: 12 points, 3 steals
Devin Booker: 11 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
Aron Baynes: 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Cam Johnson: 11 points, 7 rebounds
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING:
RUBIO ON BRIDGES, OUBRE & CARTER: “They brought the energy we needed and we were lacking a little bit of that and everybody got infected by that and played with more purpose and we got the lead and we played good at the end.”
CAM JOHNSON ON THE BENCH’S IMPACT: “We just wanted to play with energy. Take the energy as high as we can and some of the plays we made were just kind of hustle plays. Playing hard and playing for each other, playing with each other. We got good guys in the second group, we got good guys in the first group, so kind of no matter who we put out there, we trust each other.”
HEAD COACH MONTY WILLIAMS ON CAM JOHNSON: “I’ve said it for a while, he’s not your normal first-year player. He plays the game the right way. He doesn’t take bad shots. He had the wherewithal on the one three he banked to just get it up in the air. His ability to take charges says a lot about him. Not many young guys have the foot speed, the acumen to get back in transition and guess what guys are going to do and take the charge. He continues to grow as a player. He’s not just a shooter. He’s a guy who slashes and can get to the free throw line. We really like Cam a lot.”
WHAT’S NEXT:
The Suns will hit the road following the holidays as the travel to San Francisco to tip-off against the Golden State Warriors on Friday. Be sure to catch the action on Fox Sports Arizona.