Nugget-Suns Grades: Chandler continues to fly under the radar

Behind Gary Harris’ 36 points, which tied his career-high, the Nuggets overcame a sloppy second quarter where Phoenix outscored Denver 41-27 to win going away 134-111.

Here’s how each Nuggets player performed.

Jamal Murray (B) – Murray started things off tonight with a solid first quarter where he scored five points to go with an assist and a steal. Like the rest of Denver’s starters, Murray flourished tonight against Phoenix. He had a great two-way sequence in the first where he baited Marquese Chriss into a travel, which wasn’t called, then stole the ball and hit a corner three on the other end. Murray was solid but not spectacular tonight and finished with 13 points on 6-11 shooting.

Gary Harris (A+) – Tonight was one of the best offensive games of Harris’ young career. Harris came out hot, scored 13 of Denver’s first 21 points and finished the first-quarter with a 20-spot. He shot an efficient 9-10 in the frame and went on to score 36 points — which tied his career high. Harris was everywhere against Phoenix except in the locker room after the game. He was not available for comment after his big night.

Wilson Chandler (A+) – Denver’s steady hand was again, steady. Chandler hit his first three three-pointers and scored 17 points on 7-9 shooting. Like he’s done all season, Chandler was locked in on defense. He held T.J. Warren to 13 points on 5-16 shooting a night after the small forward scored 31 against Atlanta.

Nikola Jokic (B) – Jokic played an odd first half. He scored just four points on 1-2 shooting bit did dish out four assists over the first two quarters. Even though he was adamant after the win that he didn’t play differently towards the end of the third quarter, something clicked for the Serbian. Maybe it was the small ball lineup Nuggets coach Michael Malone deployed or something else, but all of a sudden Jokic was diving on the floor for loose balls, directing his teammates on both ends of the floor and just playing with more vigor than he did in the first half. Jokic barely missed his first triple-double of the season. He finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Mason Plumlee (B) – The good from Plumlee’s night? Denver’s starting center finished with five blocks — the second time in the last six games he’s reached that total. The bad? Plumlee committed three turnovers in 24 minutes. He had a couple impressive passes in the first quarter though and finished with six assists as well.

Will Barton (A) – Barton gets the benefit of a curve because he played with flu-like symptoms that he started feeling the effects of last night. Barton had a temperature this morning, missed shootaround but still played well against the Suns. He finished with 12 points on 5-13 shooting and was a plus-16 overall.

Trey Lyles (B) – Lyles didn’t have his best night but shot 5-11 from the field and scored 16 points. He’s been solid and dependable for Malone over the past month and while Denver’s trying to cut back the minutes for some of their key players, Lyles still logged 27 tonight. He finished with 11 rebounds too.

Torrey Craig (B) – Craig played 13 minutes — around what he’s averaged over Denver’s recent stretch of games. While some thought he’d see his minutes increase with Malone planning to lengthen his rotation, Craig did not. Still, he was reliable and did his job tonight defending a slew of Suns’ wings and guards.

Kenneth Faried (A) – Faried played for the first time since Denver’s Dec. 15 win over the New Orleans Pelicans and showed well. He scored a dunk on his first possession of the game and was engaged. Malone noted after the game that the 10 players who logged minutes tonight are the 10 guys who he wanted to play heading into the game. Expect Faried to stick in the rotation and play roughly the seven minutes he did against Phoenix going forward.

Malik Beasley (A) – Every night Beasley plays, you know he’ll give you maximum effort. His play tonight was no different. Beasley played solid defense for most of the night and finished with 10 points on a clean 4-5 shooting.

Denver has one more game at home on Friday versus Utah before a quick road trip to Sacramento (Saturday) and Golden State (Monday).