Jock Landale has scored seven factors throughout his 10-minute on-court cameo for Phoenix, but it surely was not sufficient to assist the Suns rise to victory in Game 1 of the second-round playoff sequence in opposition to Denver.
The 27-year-old from Melbourne was backed up by superstars Kevin Durant (29 factors, 14 rebounds) and Devin Booker (27 factors) but it surely was the hometown Nuggets who completed forward, profitable 125-107 on Saturday night time.
Booker averaged 37.2 factors within the Suns’ first-round sequence win over the Los Angeles Clippers but it surely was Jamal Murray’s 34 factors and 9 assists that stole the present for the Western Conference’s No.1 seeds.
Reigning back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic added 24 factors and 19 rebounds for Denver, whereas Aaron Gordon completed with 23 factors.
“They were just more physical, played with more force,” Suns coach Monty Williams mentioned.
“We’ve got to regroup and do a much better job of playing with pace on offence.”
Game 2 is on Monday night time in Denver.
This is a distinct form of playoff sequence than two years in the past, when the Suns swept the Nuggets within the second spherical.
Back then, Denver have been with out the mercurial Murray after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament.
Now wholesome, Murray is flashing his 2020 type contained in the NBA bubble that helped Denver advance to the Western Conference finals.
“Jamal just continues to add to the legend of playoff Jamal,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone mentioned.
Leading 106-95 with 7:40 remaining, the Nuggets went on a 14-0 run to place away the sport.
Denver led by as a lot as 25 and improved to 38-7 at house by means of the common season and playoffs.
The distinction was the 3-point line, the place the Nuggets outscored the Suns by a 48-21 margin.
To cease Durant, the Nuggets used a mess of defenders. He went 12 of 19 from the ground, however one among three on 3-pointers.
“We’ll be fine,” Durant mentioned.
“We’ve just got to play with confidence, shoot with confidence and see what happens next game.”
Durant now has 4730 playoff factors to maneuver nearer to passing Karl Malone (4761) in seventh place on the NBA’s post-season factors leaderboard.
– with AP
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
