PHOENIX -- For the severely short-handed and physically taxed Denver Nuggets, it was a chance to have fun, let it all hang out and see what happens.

For the Phoenix Suns, it was another in a long series of frustrating performances that haven't been any fun at all. And the same thing keeps happening.

With point guards Emmanuel Mudiay and Jameer Nelson among five Nuggets out with injuries and illness, Randy Foye stepped into the starting lineup and produced 31 points, including seven 3-pointers, and the Nuggets beat the Suns 104-96 Wednesday night.

"It's not about scoring 30. I just love the game and love to have fun," said Foye, who hit seven of 16 3-pointers in 40 minutes and ended five points shy of his career high, set almost six years ago with the Minnesota Timberwolves (Feb. 20, 2009).

"We were laughing in the huddle and staying loose. Before the game, coach (Michael Malone) told us to play hard and have fun and we took that from the meeting and took it on the court."

Forward Darrell Arthur added 19 points and Will Barton had 17 off the bench for the Nuggets (12-17), who dressed 11 players, played only eight, blew a 22-point lead and still snapped a three-game losing streak thanks to 14 3-pointers and big games from unexpected sources.

"I would say 15 years in the league, it's one of the better (wins) I've been part of," Denver coach Michael Malone said. "I told our guys after that we had every reason to go out there and feel sorry for ourselves and not show up. I kind of implored the team going into it that we had nothing to lose."

Ronnie Price scored a career-high 20 points -- including six 3-pointers -- for the Suns. After rallying from 17 down to beat the Nuggets in Denver on Nov. 20, Phoenix wiped out an even bigger deficit this time, down 50-28 midway through the second quarter, but couldn't finish the job.

Guard Brandon Knight has 21 points and forward Jon Leuer added 18 for the Suns (12-19), who lost their third straight game and 10 of the last 15.

"They played harder than us," said guard Eric Bledsoe, who missed nine of 11 shots scored nine points in 40 minutes, mostly against Foye.

Bledsoe said he isn't concerned about the Suns slide.

"Not at all. We're too talented," Bledsoe said. "We've had a little rough part … a little adversity to overcome. But everyone is still positive."

Frustrations did spill over on the sidelines. Forward Markieff Morris, who asked to be traded in the offseason and has been in and out of the lineup in recent weeks, tossed a towel in the direction of coach Jeff Hornacek after being taken out of the game early in the fourth quarter. Hornacek tossed the towel away.

"He's mad about not playing," Hornacek said. "I look at the stat sheet and he's a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. He thinks he's better than that. Well? Show me."

A few minutes after the sideline incident, the Suns were within a point at 88-87 on a layup by Knight with 5:44 left. But the Nuggets put the game away with an 11-2 run, with Foye and Barton hitting 3-pointers and forward Kenneth Faried scoring the other five for a 99-89 lead with 1:32 left.

"We didn't know they were going to come back from 20 and take a lead, but we knew they were going to make a run on their floor," Foye said. "Our thing was to keep our composure and play together because if we moved the ball we could get any shot we wanted."

Foye got the Nuggets off to a good start, hitting three 3-pointers in the first six minutes while Arthur added nine more off the bench in five minutes. Denver hit 14 of 25 shots in the quarter and Nikola Jokic's finger-roll layup with 11.9 seconds left gave the Nuggets a 12-point lead at 33-21 after one.

Leuer had Phoenix's first eight points of the game for Phoenix and Knight had nine of the final 13. But three Suns scored in the quarter.

Things got worse early in the second for Phoenix. Denver opened the quarter with a 17-7 run and pushed their lead to 22 at 50-28 with 6:50 left on back-to-back 3-pointers by Kostas Papanikolaou and Barton.

But the Suns stormed back the rest of the way, with a small lineup featuring Leuer and forward P.J. Tucker while guards Bledsoe, Knight and Price produced 17 points during a 22-6 run.

Price cut the lead to 56-50 with his second 3-pointer, a 22-footer just before the halftime buzzer, and the Suns were back in the game.

Hornacek stayed with the same lineup to open the third quarter and they responded again with a 12-5 run, with Price giving Phoenix its first lead at 62-61 on his third 3-pointer with 8:48 left.

But as soon as that unit went to the bench for a breather, the Nuggets regained control. Foye capped a 14-1 Denver run with his fifth and sixth 3-pointers of the game, the second restored the Nuggets lead back to 10 at 77-67 with 1:09 to go.

"We did everything we could to get back in the game. I guess we got a little tired once we got back in it," Bledsoe said.

NOTES: The flu bug is running through the Nuggets. Both G Jameer Nelson and assistant coach Dee Brown missed the game due to illness. Randy Foye got the start at point guard for Denver. ... F Danilo Gallinari (sprained left ankle) and G Emmanuel Mudiay (sprained right ankle) were out for the Nuggets, who dressed 10 players for the game. ... After starting G Devin Booker in place of Brandon Knight in the 110-89 loss at the Utah Jazz on Monday, Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek went back to Knight as a starter but put C Alex Len in the lineup in place of Tyson Chandler. T.J. Warren got a second consecutive start over P.J. Tucker at small forward.