The Denver Nuggets won an important victory this Friday in Phoenix by 111-119 against the Suns, repeating the assist record with 38, on the night in which Kevin Durant surpassed Moses Malone to become the tenth highest scorer in the history of the league. NBA.
Durant finished with 30 points and 11 assists, but he cooled down in the second half, in which he was unable to score any baskets despite looking for the basket 10 times.
Up front, without Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon for one more night, Denver pulled from the collective: there are already 10 occasions in which they close the statistical sheet with 30 or more assists this year. Nikola Jokic finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds, another double-double and there are now 18 in the current season of the 19 games he has played.
Of the current champions, the collective balance had to be highlighted, with six men scoring in double figures of the nine who participated in the match. An extra-motivated Yusuf Nurkic in the Suns reached his season-high scoring record with 31 points, rivaling Jokic on both sides of the court.
From the first minute you could experience this exciting duel between Balkan centers, both chosen in their day by Denver although Nurkic was discarded years later. The Bosnian's motivation was maximum, as always, against the Nuggets.
Jokic was at a slower scoring pace at the beginning, but he made up for it with assists: he distributed 5 in the first period alone. He gave the scoring weight to Michael Porter Jr. and Reggie Jackson with 10 and 9 points, respectively.
Nurkic had to take on more shots due to the absence of the injured Devin Booker and Durant did the rest by closing the first quarter with 12 points. He was insufficient in the face of the visitors' great efficiency from the perimeter with three triples out of five attempts.
The maximum difference until then sealed the score in the first period, an 11 with the score 30-41 in favor of Michael Malone's team.
The Suns understood that with patience the triples would come, but the most reliable thing was to ensure shots near the rim. The baskets were increased from paint and efficiency. The great architect of this was a Durant who pursued history.
It was at the gates of half-time when he managed to make his name a little brighter, reaching the tenth position of all-time top scorers in the NBA with 59-67. He left behind Moses Malone and his 27,409 points and now has as his next target a contemporary like Carmelo Anthony, who accumulates 28,289.
Not satisfied with this, Durant starred in two more baskets that closed a 3-12 run that sealed an affordable 63-70 against for the locals at halftime.
The end of the third quarter became a competition to see who could best simulate contacts and cause the opponent's offensive foul. In this, of course, Jokic and Nurkic maintained their usual 'pique'.
Phoenix was more inspired and knew how to get back into the game on the scoreboard, with a brilliant 7-21 run in which Nurkic scored 8 consecutive points and got Malone mad at 89-91.
The Bosnian scored a total of 13 points in the 9:54 he played in the third quarter. The commitment to shorten the shooting distance plus the inspiration from the personnel shots (17/18 until then) did the rest, and allowed the final period to be reached with everything to be decided at 91-94.
The threat was still there and a three-pointer by Grayson Allen tied it at 94 points. Then it was a dunk by Josh Okogie that made the tie at 98 points, and he himself, with a foreshortened shot, made it 100-100.
With 7:30 left, the heavyweights returned to the court as both teams were crying out for the leadership of Durant and Jokic. However, for the Suns player, the scoring drought continued until the end since Denver knew how to stop him and his 8 points in the second half all came from free throws.
Jokic read the Suns' good defenses and highlighted his ability to find open teammates; he sacrificed his points for assists. He also caused Nurkic's sixth foul, an offensive action with less than a minute left when the Bosnian posted and hit the Serbian in the face with his elbow.
The local comeback never materialized, and from the free throws, Porter Jr scored the final 111-119 that gave the Nuggets their fourth consecutive victory.
