The Suns shift the energy needed to beat the Nuggets on Christmas

On By Littum

PHOENIX — The biggest stage of the regular season got the Phoenix Suns back to the energy they need to play with in a 110-100 Christmas night win over the Denver Nuggets.

After a massive drop off in defensive intensity over the past few weeks that led to Phoenix going 5-12 after starting the season 9-2, the Suns at least showed they can recapture what worked so well for them to start the year.

Through the first 11 games, Phoenix was 13th in defensive efficiency (112.9) about Cleaning the Glass’ database that eliminates waste time. Over the next 17 contests, the Suns ranked 28th (120.1). Yes, injuries played a role. But the eye test supported the prevailing thought that notable absences should not take the primary blame.

Suns guard Bradley Beal said head coach Mike Budenholzer challenged everyone individually after Monday’s loss to Denver, where recent issues reached an all-time high.

“We couldn’t do what we did the other night,” Beal said of the response.

The opening of Wednesday’s matchup featured plenty of energy and commitment defensively, putting even more focus on whether it would last the rest of the night. While Denver scored 34 points in the first quarter, it was held to 22 in each of the remaining three periods.

The Nuggets responded to the intensity with some physicality in various areas, but couldn’t take care of the ball through it. The Suns committed seven fewer turnovers (16-9) and doubled Denver in points off turnovers (20-10).

With Phoenix up seven and just over eight minutes remaining, backup point guard Monte Morris battled with Denver’s Jamal Murray for a loose ball, knocking it out of bounds. He got fired up in front of his own bench, and after a Beal bucket, Beal got into a passing lane in the same spot on the floor to force a Denver turnover. Morris then missed a 3, only for Jusuf Nurkic to tip in an offensive rebound for a Royce O’Neale 3.

That 5-0 spurt was all the grit that came to fruition, a classic example of how the basketball gods will reward you if you outscore the opposition. O’Neale’s 3 broke a 2-for-16 shooting slump for the Suns to start a second half that didn’t bury them because of the energy, including a third quarter when the Suns pulled it out 27-22 to close big-time struggling recently in these dozen minutes.

“When you can’t make shots or you’re just in a little hole as a team, just that physicality and that energy is a great vehicle to get you out of that little hole you’re in,” the Suns forward said Kevin Durant.

It was a time when Phoenix’s bench really got involved in the game, a boost you could feel.

“Honestly man, if you look at all those games, that’s why we lost — we just didn’t have fun,” Beal said. “I didn’t enjoy it, I just pushed and tried to make the perfect game. … I think just finding that joy, it elevates you in all categories of the game.”

Morris and Josh Okogie brought waves of that intensity off the bench, as did rookie Ryan Dunn in the starting lineup. Even if an ideal Suns rotation doesn’t include both Dunn and Okogie due to their lack of shooting, for now those guys need to continue to play with the hustle they bring.

“He’s the energy provider,” Beal said of Okogie.

The win was Phoenix’s first Christmas since 2009, when he recently had three games this decade.

Durant became the 11th player in NBA history to play on Christmas at least a dozen times, with LeBron James’ 19th holiday contest on Wednesday setting the recent high mark. Despite Durant’s tendency to rise to the occasion, he entered the day on a bit of a coal streak. In his last four Christmas outings dating back to 2017, Durant had fallen short of the 30-point threshold. He averaged 22.8 points per game. game and shot 44.1% from the field across that stretch, very good numbers for most players and very poor numbers for Kevin Durant.

It continued strangely on Wednesday with 9-of-26 shooting for 27 points, but Durant didn’t turn it around while adding six assists, two steals and two blocks. He and Beal led by example with the high motors. Beal had arguably his best game of the season with 27 points (11-for-21), two rebounds, four assists, four steals, one block and three turnovers. Both guys tied their season highs for first-half field goal attempts, aggression Phoenix needs without Devin Booker (left groin strain)

This is the type of scene Beal talked about getting a chance to be on again when he came to Phoenix. He had only played at Christmas twice and not since 2017.

Tyus Jones’ scoring continued Wednesday with 17 key points that were easy to miss if you didn’t have a box score in front of you. He has a case as the most consistent Sun this season.

Booker did not play in the first Suns matchup since the two-game timeline on his re-evaluation period had expired. He got a pregame workout on the court behind closed doors, a solid indication that he wasn’t just standing still and shooting in, and that there was some intensity to it. His notation on the injury report, graduating from “soreness” to a strain, is typical of how Phoenix elevates injuries after a few days have passed. Budenholzer offered no updates on his status beyond practice.

Grayson Allen is in the concussion protocol and also had shots up before the game, a good sign for his potential return.

Denver got a pretty blah Nikola Jokic game by his standards — 25 points (10-of-19), 15 rebounds and two assists with two turnovers — and not enough from the supporting cast. It shot 8-of-29 (27.6%) from 3.