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DENVER – The Denver Nuggets came into the matchup with the Phoenix Suns looking to continue their winning ways. In a game where both teams refused to miss the Nuggets outlasted the Suns and came away with a 127-120 victory.

The game started the same as many other Nuggets game have. Nikola Jokic sucker punches the other team with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal in the first 10 minutes while the Nuggets defense struggled to stop anyone. Overall, Denver’s offense was too much to contend with and the Nuggets went into the second quarter up 35-29.

The start of the second quarter was when the Nuggets began to collapse. The bench unit struggled to guard anyone and the offense, being run by Jamal Murray, was struggling to create clean looks. Murray finished with just four points and one assist. When Jokic goes to the bench with Jameer Nelson starting, the Nuggets lack legitimate playmakers in their second unit and it was exposed in the first half by Phoenix. The Suns made a run against the bench unit and took a five-point lead. Not even Jokic could save the quarter and the Nuggets go into halftime down 61-57 after the Suns shot 58 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point distance.

The third quarter started with the same lack of energy and the anemic offense that Denver played with in the second quarter. Four consecutive turnovers to start the second half and settling for jump shots plagued the Nuggets until Denver decided to start playing through Jokic again. While the offense returned to the land of the living, the defense was still six feet below the dirt. The Nuggets lackadaisical defense did nothing to slow the guards of Phoenix and the one-on-one defense collapsed on nearly every possession. Brandon Knight finished with 17 points and four assists while Devin Booker put up 24 points and six assists of his own.

Jokic then showed why he could be a star player. He put the Nuggets offense on his back and proceeded to drag the Nuggets from being down nine points to going into the fourth quarter with a four-point lead to the tune of 96-92 after Jameer Nelson hit one of the prettiest floaters of the year at the buzzer. Nelson finished with 13 points and nine assists. Jokic finished with eight points, three rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in the third quarter alone.

The final quarter consisted of Phoenix and Denver trading leads. Gallinari continued to expose mismatches in the post and finished with 25 points and seven rebounds while Jokic continued his dominance of whoever was defending him. While the Nuggets could not stop the Sun’s offense Jokic carried the offensive burden throughout the entire second half. He was battling for rebounds, getting put-back layups, and setting his teammates up on every offensive possession. Jokic proved, again, that he can put the team on his back and lead Denver to a victory single-handily. He finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and eight assists.

“If you go back earlier in the season and all of the close games that we lost,” Michael Malone explained. “Some would say that you need a closer or an All-Star. I think what you are seeing now is that Nikola has become that guy.”

Quote of the game

“Nikola is truly beloved by all of his teammates,” Malone explained after the win over Phoenix. “He has no ego, he’s a young kid, he likes to have fun, he’s a little bit goofy, and the guys love him. He doesn’t take himself too serious and with all the success he is having, he is still the same kid. I think that is why everybody cares about him and respects him.”

Footnotes

Emmanuel Mudiay missed his third consecutive game with lower back pain but he is improving and is day to day. Malone said he hopes that he will return within a few days.

Newest Nuggets player, Johnny O’Bryant, is with the team but was inactive against the Suns.

Jokic’s injury

Jokic did not return to the game after leaving the floor late in the fourth quarter. He was diagnosed with a left hip strain. X-rays taken at Pepsi Center were negative and Jokic will have an MRI tomorrow.

Here’s the Nikola Jokic injury. Non-contact and looks to be his left hiphttps://t.co/q8eueAsnTr

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) January 27, 2017

What’s next

The Nuggets finish up their home-and-home with the Suns in Phoenix on Saturday at 7 PM MST.