Suns' Season Ends in Embarrassing Game 6 Blowout
PHOENIX -- It was a familiar story for the Phoenix Suns and their fans in terms of postseason fate: An embarrassing loss at home to end their season.
The Suns fell to the Denver Nuggets in 125-100 fashion, officially putting a close on their roller coaster season. Phoenix officially closes the series as losers in six games. Game 7 would have been on Sunday, May 14.
Denver will play the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors series. Los Angeles currently leads the series 3-2.
It was a game that appeared to be back and forth in the opening minutes of play - but true to the nature of the series - Denver quickly jumped out to a double digit lead towards the end of the first.
By halftime, the Nuggets scored 81 points while the Suns jeered as they walked off the court. From there, Denver controlled the game and never looked back. Phoenix's fans began to empty the seats with under ten minutes left to play.
The Suns were so used to riding the hot (and typically historic) performances of Devin Booker, yet he failed to live up to those expectations with just 12 points on 4-13 shooting.
With both Deandre Ayton (rib contusion) and Chris Paul (groin) out for Game 6, Suns coach Monty Williams opted to run a small-ball lineup of Booker, Cam Payne, Landry Shamet, Kevin Durant and Jock Landale on the floor.
Payne led Phoenix in scoring with 31 points. Durant chipped in 23.
Already down depth, Phoenix's bench again failed to produce anything significant. The Suns received just 12 points from their six players in the second unit.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic again led the way with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists on the night. He finished with a triple-double in the final three of four games.
Jamal Murray (26 points) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (21 points) also contributed to the massive win. The Nuggets show 53.7% from the field as a team and grabbed 41 rebounds to Phoenix's 29.
The Suns now look to regroup ahead of a long offseason that will surely feature lots of questions asked of the team.
