Nuggets at Suns
Fresh off their first win of the young season, the Denver Nuggets will look to put a streak together when they visit the Phoenix Suns on Friday. The Nuggets got their offense up to a more familiar level in a 109-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks and got hot from beyond the arc to eclipse the century mark for the first time in 2013-14. The Suns can put up points as well, especially if the Morris brothers continue to contribute off the bench.
Markieff Morris put together two of the best back-to-back games of his career this week with a total of 40 points against the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs, and his brother Marcus was right behind with 27. Phoenix is beginning a new era with first-year coach Jeff Hornacek and a slew of promising young players like Eric Bledsoe, Miles Plumlee and first-round pick Alex Len. Denver is operating under a first-time head coach as well in Brian Shaw, who showed some creativity that included three point guards on the floor during parts of the fourth quarter on Thursday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Altitude2 (Denver), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (1-3): Denver averaged a league-best 106.1 points and went 38-3 at home in 2012-13 but had failed to show that sort of scoring strength or gain a home win in its first three contests. The Nuggets turned it around on Thursday, feeding off the home crowd in the fourth quarter and surging to a 109-107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks behind 23 points from Ty Lawson. Shaw’s willingness to put ballhandlers like Andre Miller, Nate Robinson and Randy Foye on the floor at the same time as Lawson helped to spread the floor for drives into the lane and long jumpers.
ABOUT THE SUNS (3-2): Phoenix began the season with its own two point-guard formation in Goran Dragic and Bledsoe, but Dragic missed the last two games with a nagging ankle injury. Dragic is expected to return on Friday, pushing Gerald Green back to a reserve role. The youth of the Suns showed up late in the 99-96 loss at San Antonio on Wednesday, when Bledsoe was burned by Tony Parker on an inbounds pass for the clinching bucket and Green drew only air with his corner 3-point attempt as time expired.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Len (ankle) has missed the last three games and remains day-to-day.
2. Denver has taken eight of the last nine meetings and won its last trip to Phoenix, 108-93 on Mar. 11, as Lawson scored 19 points.
3. Bledsoe is averaging a team-high 21 points but is coming off a season-low 14 against the Spurs.