Suns 110, Nuggets 96
Brandon Knight had 19 points and six assists and Eric Bledsoe added 18 points, six rebounds and six assists as visiting Phoenix defeated Denver to halt a five-game losing streak.
Gerald Green scored 15 points off the bench as the Suns snapped a seven-game road losing streak. Fellow reserve Marcus Morris had 12 points and nine rebounds and P.J. Tucker had 12 points, eight rebounds and matched a season-high with five steals as Phoenix posted a dominating 65-40 rebounding edge.
Will Barton had a season-best 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost 17 of their last 19 games. Danilo Gallinari scored 20 points and Ty Lawson had 13 points and seven assists for Denver, which was without forwards Kenneth Faried (thumb) and Wilson Chandler (groin).
Phoenix led by 15 points early in the fourth quarter before the Nuggets crept within six with under seven minutes remaining. The Suns answered with a 10-2 burst that included two 3-pointers by Knight that pushed the lead to 101-87 and then protected the advantage to win for only the second time in 10 games.
The Suns led by nine after one quarter on Morris’ last-second half-court shot and took a 58-51 edge into halftime. Denver pulled within one five minutes into the third quarter but Phoenix erupted later in the period with 12 consecutive points and took an 83-73 lead into the final stanza.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Denver has dropped eight straight road games. … C Alex Len had 10 rebounds for Phoenix, which grabbed 23 offensive boards. … Gallinari made five 3-pointers as the Nuggets were 12-of-34 from behind the arc.