Preview: Suns Face Nuggets in Tough Road Battle
PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (35-26) are playing on the road tonight against the Denver Nuggets (42-19).
The Suns are looking to snap a two-game losing streak that commenced this past weekend - and will be without star G Devin Booker due to an ankle injury.
The Nuggets have a clean bill of health for this game - and boast a 24-5 record at home this season.
Two storylines and a prediction for tonight:
Nuggets: Turning it Up
Denver has gone 9-3 since the turn of February - including a current six-game win streak that has featured three consecutive victories over teams with winning records.
The Nuggets' role players and supporting star in Jamal Murray have played noticeably better basketball over the last month-plus, to the point that Murray is likely enjoying the best season of his eight-year career.
The main concern with Denver continues to be questions surrounding depth, but the top five of this squad is good enough to win practically every game they play in.
The Suns haven't seen the Nuggets since Dec. 1st, and that likely won't end up being an extremely encouraging thing for Phoenix - as Denver has really started to take off over the last few weeks.
Key Matchup: Aaron Gordon vs Kevin Durant
This was the matchup that quite possibly decided last season's playoff series.
Gordon was widely considered the best "role player" in the NBA throughout the 2022-23 season - and proved worthy of that mantra based on the job he did shadowing the Suns' superstar.
Gordon held Durant to some rough shooting nights and slowed him down just enough to give Denver enough breathing room to break open wins in the series that were close games at one point.
Durant is also looking to break out of the post all-star break funk he's been in - this has arguably been his worst stretch as a member of the Suns.
It's even more vital for Durant to bounce back since his running mate is missing out on the action tonight while Nikola Jokic concurrently has his full array of weapons at his disposal.
Prediction: Nuggets Win
The Nuggets are just playing too well right now.
It could be a different game if Booker were playing - but that unfortunately isn't the case.
Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Gordon have been stepping up around MVP front-runner Nikola Jokic - that will prove to be too much for Phoenix to overcome.
Suns-Nuggets is is slated to tip off shortly after 8:00 PM Arizona time tonight and will be broadcast on TNT.
