Nuggets at Suns
The Denver Nuggets swept a three-game homestand and will seek to
continue their winning streak when they visit the Phoenix Suns on
Saturday. Denver completed its homestand with a 107-98 victory over the
Houston Rockets on Saturday and the contest in Phoenix begins a
three-game road swing.
Fourth-year guard Will Barton has started the season strong and he poured in a career-best 26 points in the win over the Rockets. Small forward Danilo Gallinari also had a stellar outing with 27 points and has scored 25 or more points in three of the past four games. Phoenix is coming off an impressive 118-104 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers as the backcourt of Brandon Knight (37) and Eric Bledsoe (26) combined for 63 points in Thursday's victory. Knight tied his career best of six 3-pointers and his scoring output also matched his career high while Bledsoe had 10 rebounds and nine assists as he barely missed a triple-double.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBATV, Altitude (Denver), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (5-4): Denver views itself as an improved club under first-year coach Michael Malone and has assured it will be at least a .500 club 10 games into the season. "It was big to get three in a row," Gallinari told reporters. "We were looking at this week saying we needed to get these three at home, and we did." Rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay continues to flash his talents and had 11 assists in each of the past two games but also committed nine turnovers against Houston — his season worst is 11 — and scored a season-low two points on 1-of-10 shooting.
ABOUT THE SUNS (4-4): Knight is still learning the way Bledsoe operates after having his time to adjust cut short after last season's trade from Milwaukee due to an ankle injury. "We only had Brandon for (11) games last year before he got hurt," head coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters. "He was just starting to figure it out playing out there with Eric. He's picking things up well; he's a smart player." Knight has topped 20 points three times while scoring in double digits in all eight games and he's averaging 20.3 points per game.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Suns have won six of the past seven meetings.
2. Denver backup G Jameer Nelson (back) returned from a two-game absence Friday to match his season high of 13 points.
3. Phoenix will likely be without G Ronnie Price (concussion) while PF Markieff Morris (knee) is questionable.