Suns trip up Nuggets in OT behind Kevin Durant

Field Level Media|published: Wed Mar 06 2024 05:53
Mar 5, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and forward Royce O'Neale (00) defend Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) in the first half at Ball Arena. credits: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Durant scored eight of his 35 points in overtime, Grayson Allen made eight 3-pointers on his way to 28 points and the visiting Phoenix Suns recovered from blowing a big lead to beat the Denver Nuggets 117-107 on Tuesday night.

Bradley Beal had 16 points, Drew Eubanks scored 10 and Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 12 rebounds for Phoenix, which ended Denver's six-game winning streak.

Jamal Murray had 28 points and nine assists, Nikola Jokic finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds but had seven turnovers, Michael Porter Jr. scored 20 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 11 for the Nuggets.

Jokic had a chance to win it in regulation but his floater at the buzzer bounced off the rim, and the Suns took over in the extra period.

Durant and Beal hit 3-pointers to give Phoenix a 110-104 lead, Murray missed a short jumper, Beal made a driving layup and Durant hit a pullup jumper to give the Suns a 10-point lead with 1:25 to go.

Jokic hit a 3-pointer, but Durant answered with one of his own to clinch the victory.

Phoenix opened up a 22-point lead early in the third quarter. The Nuggets got within 79-65 later in the period before the Suns stretched the lead to 17.

Denver closed the third quarter on a 14-6 run to make it 90-81 entering the fourth, and it got within 94-90 on Porter's layup with 6:24 remaining in regulation. Beal and Caldwell-Pope soon traded 3-pointers to make it 99-93, Durant had a turnover, Murray tipped in his own miss and Jokic hit two free throws to cut the margin to 99-97 with 2:28 left.

After Beal missed a 3-pointer, Caldwell-Pope hit one to give Denver its first lead since the second quarter. Durant missed with 1:09 left, and Murray hit a turnaround jumper to make it 102-99.

Durant tied it with his first 3-pointer of the night with 26.6 seconds left to force overtime.

Phoenix trailed 43-36 early in the second quarter but finished the first half on a 29-7 run to take a 65-50 advantage into the break.

—Field Level Media

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