Let’s examine the keys to the Phoenix Suns’ dismantling of the Denver Nuggets.
Phoenix Suns 123, Denver Nuggets 98
Suns lead series 2-0
Straight up: the Phoenix Suns absolutely housed the Denver Nuggets. They were control for almost the entire game, and their dominance grew with every quarter.
Chris Paul was the Man of the Match. He was in the driver’s seat the entire game, directing the offense and carving up the Denver defense with his snake dribbles and mid-range pull-ups. He finished the evening with 18 points, 15 assists, and zero turnovers.
Phoenix’s offense, as a whole, was humming. Six Suns scored in double-figures: all five starters and Torrey Craig’s 10 points off the bench. The Nuggets had just four double-digit scorers. From tip-off through 6:06 in the fourth quarter, when the Suns were up 109-78 (a game-high 31-point margin), Phoenix owned a .500/.471/.882 shooting split, while Denver held an anemic .367/.297/.643 slashline.
Denver’s struggles on offense can be attributed to stagnation from settling for too many jump shots. Nikola Jokic, now officially the 2021 MVP, ended the night with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists. However, he did not receive any consistent secondary production in this game.
Michael Porter Jr. is supposed to be that guy, but his back issues clearly hampered him in this game. Porter came away with just four points on 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) shooting. In fact, the Nuggets besides Jokic shot a collective 27-of-73 (37.0 percent) from the field.
The Nuggets didn’t bring much energy on defense either. In the halfcourt, they were constantly left scrambling with every Suns pass or drive, leading to numerous open shots for Phoenix. Things seemed to get worse as the game went on. Their lack of consistent offense seemed to affect their confidence on the other end, which allowed the deficit to snowball.
For a team that reportedly chided themselves for being soft in Game 1, those lessons sure seemed to fade fast in Game 2. Part of me believes that even a healthy Jamal Murray would not have been able to salvage the effort Denver put forth in this game.
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