Suns Can't Shine in Late Collapse to Nuggets
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After Friday's loss, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams wasn't a fan of how his team took the floor in recent appearances.
"Whether it is Boston, Memphis, these teams that are big and physical and want to put their hands on us, we don’t have the pre-game edge that we’ve had around here," Williams said. "We got to get back to chasing something and right now I feel like the prey and I don’t like that feeling,"
Against top competition within the conference, the Suns had felt inferior. That wasn't the case against the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, at least for majority of the game.
Phoenix lost what was as much as an eight point lead with just under five minutes to play in their eventual 128-125 loss to the Nuggets. The Suns are now on a three-game losing streak.
The Suns held a small lead over Denver up until Jamal Murray knotted things up at 113 with 11 seconds to go. They went into overtime and could never find momentum.
Phoenix lost SG Devin Booker after just four minutes with another groin injury, Booker previously missed the prior three games and was ruled questionable heading into Sunday. He also missed two games prior to his last absence with a hamstring injury.
In his place, Landry Shamet again paced Phoenix in scoring with 31 points of his own. He's now dropped 30 points in his last two of three games.
Nikola Jokic moved into first all-time for triple-doubles among centers with a strong 41-15-15. He became the third player to record a triple-double on Christmas.
The Suns continue their road trip on Tuesday with a pivotal rematch with the Memphis Grizzlies, who recently defeated them 125-100 on Friday.
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