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Nikola Jokic registered 22 points, nine
rebounds and three blocked shots for the third-seeded Nuggets.
Aaron Gordon scored 18 points, Michael Porter Jr. added 15
points, Facundo Campazzo tallied 14 points and JaMychal Green
had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Denver.
Game 2 will be Wednesday night, also in Phoenix.
Jae Crowder added 14 points for the Suns, who shot 54.1 percent
from the field, including 13 of 34 (38.2 percent) from 3-point
range.
The Nuggets connected on 46.7 percent of their shots and were 14
of 40 (35 percent) from behind the arc.
Denver held a 72-63 lead after two free throws by Austin Rivers
with 7:34 left in the third quarter before the Suns exploded for
16 straight points en route to controlling the remainder of the
contest.
Ayton's three-point play put Phoenix ahead at 74-72 with 4:26
left in the third before Booker nailed a 3-pointer and Bridges
added a basket to complete the run and give the Suns a
seven-point lead.
Porter knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:22 left in the quarter to
end a Denver scoring drought of 4:12.
The Nuggets were again within four later in the stanza before
Phoenix rattled off 11 consecutive points. Ayton's dunk and
Bridges' 3-pointer gave the Suns an 88-79 lead entering the
fourth quarter before Dario Saric scored a basket and Paul
knocked down back-to-back jumpers to make it 94-79 with 10:27
left in the contest.
Paul Millsap scored in the interior with 10 minutes left to halt
the Phoenix run. However, the Suns kept the heat on as Paul
converted a three-point play and a 3-pointer and Cameron Payne
fed an alley-oop to Torrey Craig for a ferocious dunk that
increased the Phoenix lead to 102-84 with 8:36 left.
Crowder later knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 114-97 with
3:34 left, and Booker added a jumper 26 seconds later to end any
suspense. The Suns' lead topped out at 20 points.
Jokic had 15 first-half points as the Nuggets held a 58-57 lead
at the break.
--Field Level Media
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