The Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets were expected to fight for supremacy in the Western Conference this season.
Instead, the two teams are battling to stay in the mix a third of the way through the schedule.
The Suns (14-13) and Nuggets (15-11) will meet in Denver on Monday night for the first of two games between the teams over the next three days.
Phoenix is coming off two home losses to teams with losing records and won’t have Devin Booker, who already has been ruled out with a groin injury. The Suns also may be missing Grayson Allen, who took a hit to the head in Saturday’s 133-125 loss to Detroit, and Bol Bol, who has been limited to seven games this season with a left knee contusion.
That puts more responsibility on Kevin Durant, who averages a team-high 27.4 points a game. Durant has scored 37 and 43 points in the two losses leading up to Monday, and he acknowledged he has struggled of late when passing out of double teams.
“I’ve got to be more patient,” Durant said. “Most of the time when I turn the ball over is because I’m trying to play too fast. When I see a trap, I get so excited because we got numbers.”
Even without Booker and Allen, Phoenix has plenty of offensive weapons. Bradley Beal is third on the team in scoring at 18.2 points a game, Tyus Jones is averaging 12.8, and Royce O’Neale is contributing 11.1.
The Suns also have center Jusuf Nurkic, who has had success in guarding reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.
Jokic and his teammates won’t be as rested as Phoenix. The Nuggets will play the second game of a back-to-back set after taking a late flight in from New Orleans. Additionally, Denver needed overtime to beat the Pelicans 132-129 and avoid a second straight loss.
Jokic notched his 11th triple-double of the season with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, nearly mirroring his season averages. He is scoring 30.9 points a game, pulling down 13.0 rebounds and dishing out 9.8 assists.
He is second in the league in points and assists and third in rebounding.
The Nuggets needed every bit of his offense to get by New Orleans, which only has five wins. One of those came against Denver during NBA Cup group play.
Jamal Murray also has been playing well lately and finished with 27 points against the Pelicans. He has 20 or more points in the last four games.
Murray and Jokic both logged more than 40 minutes in the overtime win, but that hasn’t been an issue when they play on the second night of a back-to-back. Denver is 3-0 in those games this season, and it will get a heavy dose of that this week, with five games in seven nights.
Seems like we like it when it’s tough for us, as far as the schedule,” Jokic told Altitude TV after Sunday’s win. “We play better. Whenever we have a couple of days off, we play bad.”