Gallinari carries Nuggets to seventh win in their past nine games

Life without Nikola Jokic shouldn’t be this easy.

The Nuggets, without their starting center who is officially day-to-day after an MRI Friday revealed a left hip flexor strain, showed they could win without their rising big man, as Denver began an important stretch of games with a 123-112 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Albeit against the lowly Suns, who came into the matchup with the Western Conference’s second-worst record, but Danilo Gallinari showed he can still lead the Denver attack when need be. That attack netted Denver 123 points, more than their season average of 110.1, a mark they hit and surpassed with 4:39 to go in the fourth.

Gallinari scored a season-high 32 points on 9-14 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in 37 minutes.

For Denver, it was a momentum-changing third quarter that saw the Nuggets outscore Phoenix 36-22, putting the capper on a 74-50 run after Denver trailed by 12 after the first. Kenneth Faried was huge in that third quarter scoring 12 of his 21 points, as was Jameer Nelson, who was solid for a third consecutive game at the point and went 7-8 from the line in the third.

“That third quarter was one of our best third quarters of the season,” Michael Malone said.

From there, the Nuggets outlasted a brief fourth quarter rally from Phoenix to win their third straight and seventh in their past nine.

Rookie Jamal Murray continued his encouraging play at backup point guard, scoring 18 points on 7-10 shooting. Gary Harris scored 15 points in 35 minutes, seemingly off the minutes restriction he’s had since returning from a sprained ankle, and Nelson poured in 17 points and six assists in 33 minutes.

“I think we’re growing up as a team,” Faried said.

For Phoenix, Eric Bledsoe led the way with 41 points on 12-27 shooting. Devin Booker pitched in 23 points. The Suns committed 36 fouls leading to 37 Nuggets’ free throws.

Denver couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start than they did.

The Nuggets went on a five-minute scoring drought in the middle of the first quarter, highlighted by a 21-6 Suns run that gave Phoenix a 33-21 advantage after one. Denver shot 5-17 (29.4 percent) from the field in the quarter and dug themselves a significant hole early.

Murray, who played exclusively backup point guard for the fourth straight game, changed things in the second.

Murray, along with Gallinari, helped bring Denver back within reach in a second quarter where the Nuggets shot 15-25 (60.0 percent) from the field. Gallinari chipped in nine points in the quarter to give the swingman 22 in the first half and Murray scored seven of his own on 3-5 shooting.

Denver’s third-quarter outburst set the stage for the fourth, which saw the Suns trim Denver’s lead to seven with 5:40 left in the quarter. Murray and Faried continued to power the Nuggets in the fourth as Denver extinguished the Suns in Phoenix.

“He played unbelievable,” Gallinari said of Faried. “Defense, offense, he gave us an unbelievable game. I’m proud of Kenneth.”

Denver moves to 21-25 on the year. The Nuggets also sweep the season series with the Suns.

What’s next

Denver is in Los Angeles Tuesday to do battle with the Lakers before returning home to host Memphis and Milwaukee next week. Lakers’ big man Julius Randle (pneumonia) has already been ruled out of their matchup with the Nuggets.