The Phoenix Suns once again relied on a heroic comeback after poor play for the majority of the game, and after pulling it off in the win of the season on Tuesday, they couldn’t replicate it in Friday’s 149-141 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Phoenix (29-34) trailed by 21 in the mid-third quarter, shooting efficiently but failing itself in the usual problem areas to be in that position. The Suns eventually cut the deficit to eight by the early fourth quarter, and instead of the immediate flurry to get in control of the game like on Tuesday, it took a lot more time on Friday, all the way to 2:16 remaining to tie it.
The Suns fumbled away an opportunity to seal it in regulation from there.
With Phoenix ahead by two shortly after, Devin Booker isolated for a drive-and-kick to Grayson Allen with the shot clock winding down, but Allen’s defender didn’t close in on Booker and Allen wasn’t open. A shot clock turnover was the result, and after a missed 3 by Denver’s Jamal Murray was grabbed by Mason Plumlee, he was stripped by Michael Porter Jr. who put the ball right up and in.
At 33 seconds to go and the game tied, Kevin Durant took his turn at isolating and should have drawn a foul on a free-throw line jumper. He did not get it, and on the ensuing possession, Denver’s Christian Braun drilled an open 3 off extra pressure toward Nikola Jokic with just 1.1 seconds left.
On the Suns’ last chance at a sideline out of bounds, Booker had the play designed for him to receive a pass on the opposite wing while his man was screened late. As Booker got the ball a few feet behind the 3-point line and looked somewhat open, a Denver defender left that corner to give the shot a proper contest. Booker, however, was aware he had enough time to make a pass and that corner was where Durant was for the game-tying 3 at the buzzer to give us overtime.
CHRISTIAN BRAUN HITS THE 3 TO GIVE DENVER THE LEAD WITH 1.4 LEFT 🚨
KEVIN DURANT TIES THE GAME TO SEND US TO OVERTIME 😱😱😱
WHAT A FINISH TO REGULATION ON ESPN! pic.twitter.com/6TGIdLGrl7
— NBA (@NBA) March 8, 2025
Denver (41-22), who honestly should have put this one away in the fourth quarter but smoked a few layups and clanked a handful of open corner 3s, did so emphatically in the extra period. The Nuggets scored 24 points in overtime after 23 in the fourth quarter.
The only noteworthy occurrence was Jokic dishing out his 20th assist to finish with 31 points, 21 rebounds and 22 assists on 13-of-22 shooting, making him the first player in NBA history with a 30-20-20 game and only the third with a 20-20-20 game.
The Suns were put in this position because of another appalling defensive performance.
Recent blips, like the first half in Memphis or fourth quarter of Tuesday’s victory have shown us what they are capable of when everyone is completely attentive and giving it their absolute all.
But to go back to the word “capable,” we have also definitively learned they are not capable of channeling that. And more so, continue to prove capable of an aloofness opponents will repeatedly punish.
One of Phoenix’s worst characteristics as an awful defensive team this season has been not adjusting to 3-point shooters once they get comfortable with a make or two. And beyond that, is lazy when following the scouting report by not even giving those non-shooters half-decent closeouts even though they are late to the play.
Denver’s Aaron Gordon, a career 32.7% shooter from deep that admittedly is up to 41.9% this year, knocked down his first two. Time to adjust. Booker and Durant, however, both let Gordon move into transition 3s with space later in the first half. He’s in rhythm! Get up on him! It doesn’t matter that those are tougher shots! Make him uncomfortable! You can actually have an impact on making that happen!
The Nuggets got hot. Sometimes, that’s the ol’ “it is what it is” and “it happens” of today’s NBA. A 13-of-19 start from 3 is that on paper. But Phoenix cannot say that itself as an excuse when it did not do nearly enough to prevent that from occurring.
Phoenix shot 53.8% from the field in the first half and trailed by 12 at halftime, another constant trend. Mindless turnovers and terrible transition defense were other culprits, another constant trend.
Booker got back on track with 34 points (10-of-19), six rebounds and seven assists. Friday followed a three-game run that was the first time in eight years that Booker attempted less than 15 shots in three straight contests, per Stathead. Gotta go back to March 2017 when Booker was 20 years old. Something is clearly up with him and the best guess is his right knee that has featured a sleeve the last handful of games.
Durant’s 46 minutes played topped Booker’s 44 and he was 10-of-16 for 29 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists.
Gordon ended up with 27 points for Denver while Braun added 25 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Phoenix two-way guard Collin Gillespie did not get a look in the initial nine-man rotation after sparking Tuesday’s miraculous comeback with infectious energy. He was absolutely everywhere on the floor, the type of effort packed with desperation that has been sorely missing.
Is he even one of the most 12 talented players on the roster? No, he is not. But where has that talent gotten Phoenix with one of the most talented rosters in the league?
If you believe in sending messages to your team, head coach Mike Budenholzer showed that pedigree and promises hold more weight in the decision-making process than effort. It was a perfect opportunity to show it was going to be the opposite of that for the remaining 20 games. Instead, Gillespie was the 10th guy in, a throwaway reward for trying hard once, with five minutes that all came in the first half.
In the early second quarter, Booker took a pull-up 3 early in the shot clock that bounced off front rim all the way to the free-throw line, a ball in the near vicinity of Royce O’Neale and Nick Richards. Both guys stood there as Booker’s shot went up, while Gillespie did what everyone should be doing by putting himself in that space. Gillespie forced a deflected 50/50 ball that would have landed where those other two guys should have been, but they made a late break for it to not get the ball, and then Murray leaked out for a free layup in transition. Booker was livid afterward.
The loss dropped the Suns to 29-34, two back in the loss column of the Dallas Mavericks at 32-32 for the last play-in spot at 10th. This is certainly one to think about in terms of a win against one of the best teams in the league that could have made a major difference in making that climb with the toughest remaining schedule in the league. Opportunities like the closing moments of the fourth quarter are not going to come often. Portland (28-36) and San Antonio (26-35) both lost on Friday as well.
Phoenix now travels to Dallas for a Sunday afternoon matchup that is as much of a must-win that will come in early March given what it means in the standings and how depleted the Mavericks are.