Game Recap: Suns find their fight, but Nuggets in their shooting

The Phoenix Suns lost their third game of the season to the Denver Nuggets by the final score of 127-120. The Suns’ chaotic style of play from last season returned, but the defense remained their Achilles’ heel in the loss. The Nuggets shot 52% from the field and were 20-for-38 from long distance. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 39 points, 28 coming after halftime, and Christian Braun scored 31 points. Both Murray and Braun each shot 7-of-9 from long range, and far too many came with little to no contest; Murray also went 12-for-15 from the free-throw line. 

Dillon Brooks was on track to put up at least 30 himself after scoring 20 points in the first half but was ejected on a turnaround fadeaway where he kicked Murray in the midsection midway through the third quarter. After reviewing the foul, it was upgraded to a Flagrant Foul Penalty 2, and Brooks’ night was over. Miles Bridges did all he could on both ends, scoring 24 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and defending with a lot more intensity than he has this season. Collin Gillespie had one of his best performances in a Suns uniform, and the rest of the bench showed tonight that they can keep the Suns in games all season long because of their connected and frenetic style of play. He scored 16 points and had 10 assists, which is only going to make the bench Jalen Green crowd even louder. 

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Speaking of Green, no one had a worse night than him. He finished with 2 points in 25 minutes. He was the one Sun tonight who almost always fell victim to ending possessions with just one or two passes before a shot or turnover. That just cannot be the case for the one who is entrusted to bring the ball up the floor so often. 

Booker added 20 points but was only 7-of-19 and had a few blunders in the third and fourth quarters that were head-scratching. In the third quarter, Booker missed a wide-open layup, and in the fourth quarter, he had multiple miscues where he fouled Murray on a 3, let a 6-for-8 from 3 Braun take an uncontested corner 3, and threw up a wild shot in transition against Gordon trying to draw a foul. 

Overall, the Suns lost because their defense…

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Publish date : 2026-10-31 05:50:00

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