“He just came up where he couldn’t push off of it or anything. “He just looked like he was boxing out,” Williams said. The Suns lost Chris Paul to a tight left groin late in the third quarter and he finished with 8 points. Jokic's big night was necessary as Murray shot 3 for 15 and missed all nine of his 3-pointers after sinking six of 10 in the opener, and Porter scored five points on 2-for-7 shooting.Īaron Gordon added 16 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 14 points and went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc, including back-to-back swishes that erased the 73-70 deficit and put the Nuggets ahead for good early in the fourth quarter. But Jokic was doing a little bit too much. 'He obviously got it going in the first game.

The Suns held Murray to 10 points 48 hours after he went off for 34 but they had no answers for Jokic. “We’ve got to go home and take care of business. “You’ve got to believe that it’s going to come our way here soon,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. The Suns have been outscored by 30 points from long range this series. He sure showed why Monday night when 26 of his points and 12 of his rebounds came after halftime, when he dominated at both ends of the floor, denyng the Suns a shot at tying the series that shifts to Phoenix for Game 3 Friday night. “If he doesn’t win it, I’m still gonna give him a hug and tell him he’s the MVP in my eyes.” Only a few guys in NBA history have done that,” Malone said. “If he wins, it, we will be celebrating and very happy for him because it’d be a huge accomplishment - three years in a row. Malone said that's because Jokic isn't motivated by winning more MVPs but by leading the Nuggets to their first NBA title. Jokic shined a night before he learns if he's edged Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo for his third consecutive NBA MVP award, recently renamed for Michael Jordan. And that fourth quarter, man, 14 points for that team, 28% from the field, 0-for-9 from 3?”ĭevin Booker led Phoenix with 35 points and Kevin Durant added 24 but they combined to miss a whopping 32 shots, including 14 from long range. I love a guy who's getting to the basket, imposing his will upon the other team. “Nikola's an MVP for a reason,” Malone said. “I love an aggressive Nikola Jokic,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Jokic knocked down 17 shots to offset an off-night by Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., who combined to make miss 17 of 22 shots. Jokic scored 24 before the break for Denver.Nikola Jokic's 39 points leads Nuggets past Suns 97-87ĭENVER - Nikola Jokic scored 39 points and pulled down 16 rebounds on the eve of the NBA MVP announcement to rally the Denver Nuggets to a 97-87 win over Phoenix on Monday night, giving them a 2-0 lead over the Suns in the Western Conference semifinals. Phoenix closed with an 11-4 burst as Booker drained two treys in the final minute, giving the Suns a 98-92 lead entering into the fourth.ĭurant had 21 points and Booker had 19 as the Suns led 63-61 at halftime. Jokic put up 18 points in the third quarter for the Nuggets - including 13 straight Denver points during one stretch - and Booker had 17 on 6-of-6 shooting for the Suns. Nearly two minutes later, Shamet buried a 3-pointer from the corner to give Phoenix a 116-106 advantage with 4:56 remaining.ĭenver shot 56.2 percent from the field, including 7 of 22 (31.8 percent) from 3-point range. He made another with 6:48 left to make it a nine-point margin. Shamet started his hot fourth quarter with two treys in a span of 58 seconds to help the Suns take a 108-100 lead with 7:35 remaining. Shamet, who didn’t even play in Game 2, was 5 of 8 from long range. Phoenix made 56.8 percent of its field-goal attempts and was 13 of 29 (44.8 percent) from behind the arc. Warren sank two free throws with 22.4 seconds remaining and Durant added two with 13.7 seconds left as the Suns pushed the lead to 127-120 before closing it out. In Game 4, Denver crept within 121-118 on Jokic’s three-point play and Aaron Gordon’s tip-in with 1:45 remaining.ĭurant made two free throws with 1:27 left to push the margin to five before Murray hit a short jumper 19 seconds later.

The Suns were without veteran point guard Chris Paul (groin) for the second straight game.īooker and Durant combined for 72 points on Sunday after teaming up for 86 in Phoenix’s Game 3 win on Friday. Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Tuesday in Denver. added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray contributed 28 points and seven assists and Michael Porter Jr. Nikola Jokic scored 53 points, his career best in the postseason or the regular season, and had 11 assists for top-seeded Denver. Shamet became a surprise hero off the bench by scoring 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.

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