Nuggets at Suns
The Denver Nuggets have won five straight games to reach .500 for the first time since the second game of the season at 7-7. The road to a sixth consecutive victory and a winning record gets tougher as the Nuggets visit the Phoenix Suns on the second night of a back-to-back Wednesday. The Suns just wrapped up a 4-2 road trip and are making a brief appearance at home before heading to Denver on Friday to complete the home-and-home set.
Phoenix overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to briefly take the lead in Toronto on Monday before running out of gas at the end of a long trip and suffering a 104-100 setback. "We made a comeback," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters. "We just made some bad plays and gambled towards the end. When you’re making a comeback down 17 in the fourth quarter, you can’t afford too many mistakes." The Nuggets allowed the Chicago Bulls to cut a 14-point deficit to one possession Tuesday before pulling out a 114-109 win.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (7-7): Denver tends to go as point guard Ty Lawson goes, and he has been at his best over the past five games. Lawson overcame a rough first half to pour 20 points and 12 assists on Chicago on Tuesday and is averaging 17.6 points and 12.8 assists during the five-game winning streak. Joining Lawson with an uptick in production is Danilo Gallinari, who had his minutes restriction lifted and is averaging 14 points in 27.7 minutes off the bench in the last three games.
ABOUT THE SUNS (9-6): Phoenix leans on different players to produce the points from game to game and sometimes quarter to quarter. Eric Bledsoe carried the Suns through the first three quarters Monday and finished with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but finally got some help when Isaiah Thomas buried four 3-pointers during the fourth-quarter barrage to get them back in the game. "The strength of having a deep team is if everyone buys into it and we keep everybody fresh, we can run them in and out of the lineup and they should be able to put out full energy every minute they're on the court and not have to rest," Hornacek told the Arizona Republic.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Suns took all four meetings last season and won the two at home by an average of 12.5 points.
2. Phoenix G Gerald Green is 8-of-15 from 3-point range over the last three games.
3. Denver F Darrell Arthur (knee) left Tuesday’s game and is day-to-day.