Game 2 - Chris Paul (hip), Deandre Ayton (ankle), Cameron Johnson (knee), Landry Shamet (hip) and Cameron Payne (foot) were out with injuries as well as Booker. Game 1 - Devin Booker suffered a strained left groin early in the first quarter on Christmas Day. The Suns split four games against the Nuggets this season with Phoenix losing the first two in Denver and winning the latter at home, but there were different circumstances for each game. “I think it’s good to get up here, get used to the elevation a little bit and just settle in,” Booker said. Surely can’t hurt having two days in Denver before a game than one in preparing to face the No. Not quite sure two days allows for you to acclimate, but you never know how it will benefit guys.” “The more time you can spend here, the better. “There’s always that thing that people don’t talk about, but it’s a deal with the altitude,” Williams continued. The Suns have also given themselves extra time to get acclimated to the high altitude in Denver. Allowing them to get some good work in and go to the hotel and just have a great camaraderie and unity and all that stuff.”

It’s just us talking, going over things that are necessary. It’s almost like a mini training camp, if you will. “I thought it was great to be able to get up here. “We as a staff were talking about options and right when the game was over, our guys were like wanting to get up here,” Suns coach Monty Williams said as the fourth-seeded Suns practiced inside the practice court at Ball Arena. So, the Suns flew out to Denver two days before Saturday’s Game 1 and practiced Thursday at Ball Arena after having off day following their Game 5 closeout victory Tuesday over the Clippers in the first round. “We’re not doing anything better at home besides just waiting on this,” Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker said. Spread: The Nuggets (+7) cover the spread.View Gallery: Photos: Suns-Clippers Game 5, April 25, 2023ĭENVER - The Suns didn’t feel a need to stay another day in sunny Phoenix before traveling to colder Denver for the start of the Western Conference semifinals.

That’s worth noting especially because the two losses Phoenix has had versus Denver this season neither featured Durant. Durant is definitely a game-changer for a Suns team that was already loaded before he arrived in the desert in February.

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are in great form and should spell trouble for Denver’s defense that just got abused by Houston.ĭurant has averaged 27.7 points on 60 percent shooting from the field in the last three Suns games, while Durant Booker has put up 25.3 points on 47.3 percent shooting from the floor over the same stretch. That’s a great tuneup for Phoenix for this upcoming showdown against a potential opponent in the deeper rounds of the NBA Playoffs. They are coming off a 115-94 demolition job of the tanking San Antonio Spurs at home Wednesday. The Suns are peaking at just the right time. The Nuggets will not be as depleted this time around. Denver is 2-1 this season against Phoenix, with the lone loss against the Suns being that 100-93 defeat on the road last Saturday when Jokic, Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Michael Porter J were not available. It’s also possible that the Nuggets just didn’t have the level of energy it would have brought to a game against a much more respectable opponent like the Suns. If anything, that loss can serve as a wake-up call for the Nuggets – a timely one at that, with the 2023 NBA Playoffs just around the corner. He had 14 points and a plus-minus of -21. It was simply not Denver’s day, with even Nikola Jokic putting up a stinker by his lofty standards. The Nuggets, the best team in the Western Conference, are coming off a loss at the hands of the worst team in the same conference, the Houston Rockets, last Wednesday on the road, 124-103. The Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets resume their rivalry in the West when Kevin Durant and company host Nikola Jokic and crew in the desert.Ĭatch this game live on Friday, April 7, at 10:00 AM, Manila time

Nuggets suns head to head