Talk about starting this series off with a statement win. The Denver Nuggets were in control from start to finish against the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of this Western Conference semifinals series, and left with a 125-107 win. Denver got out to a 17-point lead at halftime, and despite a strong third quarter from Phoenix, Denver ended up cruising to a win. Jamal Murray was the primary reason for that, as the Nuggets guard finished with 34 points, nine assists and shot 54.2% from the field. When the Suns started to get back into the game in the fourth quarter, Murray took it upon himself to put the game out of reach and Denver never looked back.
But Murray wasn't the only Nuggets player who had it going Saturday night. All five Denver starters scored in double figures, while three players had at least 20 points. Nikola Jokic finished with 24 points, 19 rebounds and five assists while Aaron Gordon added on 23 points of his own. For the Suns, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker combined for 56 points, but it wasn't enough to contend with a hot-shooting Nuggets squad.
Here are three takeaways from the Nuggets Game 1 win.
1. Jamal Murray's moment
With 8:54 left in the fourth quarter, the Suns had cut Denver's 17-point halftime lead down to 10 points. It was the closest the team had been since the second quarter, and it felt like Phoenix could get back in the game. But Jamal Murray had other ideas about that. The Nuggets guard proceeded to go on an 8-0 run by himself, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to push Denver's lead back up to 17 points. It was the exclamation mark to what was a dominant performance from Murray, which also included this incredibly tough drive to kick off his run in the fourth quarter:
Murray's performance was a strong reminder of what Denver has been missing in the postseason in each of the past two seasons. Due to a torn ACL during the 2020-21 season, we haven't seen Murray in the playoffs since the Nuggets Western Conference finals run in the 2020 Orlando bubble. His versatile scoring and playmaking not only takes off a lot of the offensive responsibility off of Jokic, but it makes the Nuggets more of a threat for a team like the Suns. Phoenix just didn't have an answer for Murray all night, and going forward they're going to have to figure out how to contain him, because if he's going to have free reign every trip up the floor, then this is going to be a very short series.
2. The math ain't mathing for Phoenix
It's been said ten times over how the Suns are the masters of the mid-range shot. Over 40% of their shots come from the mid-range, which ranks first in the league, and they make them at a 44% clip. Durant and Booker are nearly unstoppable from the elbow, and even in tonight's game, those shots were falling automatically for the Suns. But through the first three quarters, the Suns had attempted only 11 3-pointers, and had made just four of them. Compare that to Denver taking 27 shots from beyond the arc at that point in the game and you can very clearly see the disparity here.
I'm not saying the Suns need to start jacking up 3s left and right in this series, because the Nuggets likely aren't going to shoot 43.2% from deep in every game. However, the Nuggets entered the playoffs with the second-best 3-point percentage, and while they rank towards the bottom of the league in attempts, if that shot is falling for them they're going to shoot it. So yes, while the Suns don't need to live and die by the 3, they certainly need to take a few more than 11 through three quarters to keep pace with a Nuggets team that shoots the 3-ball really well.
3. Adjustments for Game 2
There's going to be several things that the Suns can improve upon from Game 1, one of them being taking better care of the ball. Phoenix turned the ball over 16 times, which resulted in 18 points for the Nuggets. They were uncharacteristic mistakes from a team that didn't have this many issues turning the ball over in the regular season, and it allowed Denver to get out in transition and capitalize on their mistakes. Phoenix can't commit that many turnovers against a team that ranked fifth in the league in transition points in the regular season.
The Suns will also have to tweak how they defend Jamal Murray, because allowing him to break out for 34 points on 54.2% from the field and 60% from deep just isn't going to cut it. Suns coach Monty Williams alluded to that in his post game press conference, saying Phoenix allowed Murray too much space to get his shots off, while also noting that "I don't think anybody could've stopped him tonight." Murray played out of his mind, yes, but to Williams' point, too many of his buckets came with little resistance from the defense. Josh Okogie, who was put in the starting lineup in place of Torrey Craig for the prime task of checking Murray, didn't make it difficult enough for the guard to get shots off.
There's also the problem that in addition to Murray and Jokic, nearly everyone on Denver's team punished the Suns. Murray and Jokic are going to get their points, but if guys like Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are going to put up double figures every night, then this will be a very short series.
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April 30, 2023 at 10:56AM
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Nuggets handle Suns in Game 1 behind Jamal Murray's 34-point explosion - CBS Sports
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