Suns Strokes: Suns fall to Nuggets despite career-high 41 points from Eric Bledsoe

Same opponent. Different venue. Same result.

For the second time in three days, the Phoenix Suns lost to the Denver Nuggets, the current eight-seed in the Western Conference.

The loss, the Suns’ third straight, dropped them six-and-a-half games from a playoff spot.

The Suns (15-32) took a 16-point first-quarter lead, but then were outscored by 10 in the second quarter (38-28) and 14 in the third quarter (36-22) to lose 123-112 in front of sold-out Talking Stick Resort Arena on Saturday.

Eric Bledsoe scored a career-high 41 points, Devin Booker added 23 and Tyson Chandler (15 points and 13 rebounds) finished with his 11th double-double of the season.

Not enough, however.

The Nuggets, playing without the injured Nikola Jokic, placed five players in double figures, led by Danilo Gallinari’s season-best 32 and Kenneth Faried’s 21.

Faried also had 13 rebounds.

The Nuggets (21-25) have won three straight and seven of nine overall. They also extended their winning streak against the Suns to six games, sweeping the four-game season series for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

THE GOOD

Huge first quarter for Bledsoe, who dropped 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including one 3-pointer, while playing all 12 minutes. He added three rebounds and four assists; the latter of which meant he had a hand in 19 of the Suns’ 33 first-quarter points, including accounting for seven points during a 14-1 run that put the Suns in front 29-13 at the 3:11 mark of the period.

During one second-quarter stretch, Booker scored nine straight points. He finished the period with 11, on 3-of-5 shooting and five free throws, and 16, on 5-of-8 shooting at six free throws, at halftime. By the way, not one of his eight field attempts was a 3-pointer. Booker was a plus-11 (bettered only by Marquese Chriss’ plus-12) at the break, helping the Suns to a 61-59 lead.

Despite the loss, Booker extended his streak of consecutive games scoring 20+ points to 12 in a row, which is the longest by a Suns player since Amar’e Stoudemire in 18 straight from March 11-April 14, 2008. In addition, Booker’s streak is the longest by a first- or second-year NBA player since Blake Griffin scored 20+ in 14 straight games as a rookie in 2010-11.

Less than a week after setting his career high of 40 points, Bledsoe established a new career mark with 41, 13 coming in the fourth quarter. He shot 12-of-27 from the field, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range, and 14-of-15 from the free throw line with six rebounds, eight assists and two steals in 45 minutes. This marked Bledsoe’s ninth game of 30+ points this season.

THE BAD

Before the game, Nuggets head coach Mike Malone said someone needed to “step up” with Jokic sidelined. That someone was Gallinari, who scored a game-high 13 first-quarter points. He made four of his five field goal attempts, including a pair of 3-pointers, and three free throws. The rest of the Nuggets roster, meanwhile, shot a combined 3-of-16 for eight points in the period.

Three times over a four-possession stretch and five times overall in the second quarter, the Nuggets recorded an and-1. The fourth time, by Gallinari, capped a 21-7 Denver run that tied the game at 44 at the 5:00 mark. Gallinari, by the way, scored a team-best nine points in the period, hitting all three of his field goal attempts, including one 3-pointer, and a pair of free throws.

During a 28-6 Denver third-quarter run, half of the Nuggets points came from the foul line as they made 14-of-15 attempts to help stake them to an 87-70 lead at the 3:59 mark of the period. Overall, the visitors made 18 free throws with Jameer Nelson going 7-of-8, Faried 6-of-6 and Gallinari 4-of-4. The 18 points from the charity stripe were just four fewer than the Suns’ third-quarter total.

With nine points in his last two games, including four against the Suns two days prior, Murray exploded for 11 fourth-quarter points. He did not miss a shot, going 4-of-4 from the field, including one 3-pointer, and 2-of-2 from the foul line. He added a blocked shot as well. Murray finished with 18 points off the bench, more than doubling his season average of 7.9 points per game.

STAT OF THE GAME

-13: Two days after being a minus-16 at the foul line against the Nuggets, the Suns finished a minus-13 as they were outscored 37-24; and they have now been outscored 67-38 over the last two games from the charity stripe

HE SAID IT

“Obviously the referees saw something,” head coach Earl Watson said, referring to the Suns’ 36 fouls. “(The Nuggets) do a great job just attacking the rim, attacking the paint, putting themselves in bonus situations. And Jameer did a great job of navigating it, putting himself in position to turn downhill, put pressure on the rim. The last few games versus them, they shot 70 free throws. Our guys drive, too. I think Booker and Bledsoe, they got to the free throw line 11 and 15 times, so it goes both ways.”

NOTED

Chandler made 12 consecutive field goals (over three games) before he missed.

Brandon Knight, who missed 7-of-his-8 shots, finished a minus-32 playing 15:51.

Dragan Bender missed his third consecutive game because of a sore right ankle.

Ronnie Price, who was signed to a 10-day contract on Friday, was listed inactive.

Alan Williams, who Watson praised before the game, celebrated his 24th birthday.

UP NEXT

The homestand continues with a visit from Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

This is the first of three meetings this season.

The series was split 2-2 in 2015-16, though the Grizzlies won the more recent matchup, 103-97, on March 3 at Talking Stick Resort Arena behind 16 points from Lance Stephenson.

Overall, the Suns have won just eight of the last 24 head-to-head meetings.

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