Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, Jamal Murray added 27 points and seven rebounds, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns 108-107 in overtime on Friday night.
Murray scored the game-winning points from the free-throw line with fewer than 20 seconds to play. Malik Beasley tallied 17 points, and Gary Harris and Jerami Grant had 13 points each for Denver, which had the league's best record (34-7) at home a season ago.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had 23 points and eight rebounds before fouling out, Frank Kaminsky had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Devin Booker scored 18 for the Suns, but his game-tying attempt was blocked in the final seconds. Aron Baynes had 15 points and seven rebounds before fouling out.
Oubre, Baynes and Ricky Rubio fouled out in the first 1:05 of overtime after the Nuggets took a five-point lead. But Kaminksy's two free throws with just over a minute left gave Phoenix a 107-106 lead.
Murray hit two foul shots with 19.4 seconds left to put Denver back on top. The Suns called a timeout, and Booker dribbled down the clock before driving to the bucket, but Torrey Craig rotated over to block it, and time ran out.
Denver held a nine-point lead with under two and a half minutes to play in regulation, but the Suns clawed back. They cut it to 90-89 on Oubre's two free throws with 43.6 seconds left, Jokic hit a short jumper in the lane, and Murray split a pair of free throws to make it 93-89 in Denver's favor. But Booker hit a 3-pointer with 6.9 to play.
Murray drained two foul shots to make it 95-92, but Beasley fouled Rubio on a shot attempt from halfcourt with 1.8 seconds left. Rubio made all three free throws to send it to overtime.
Phoenix led 55-52 midway through the third quarter when the Nuggets went on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Harris hit two free throws and Jokic's three-point play put Denver ahead 57-52.
Beasley's dunk gave the Nuggets a 62-55 edge, but the Suns rallied to cut the deficit to two points entering the fourth.
Phoenix played its first game without Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft. The NBA suspended Ayton for 25 games on Thursday for testing positive for a diuretic, a violation of the league's anti-drug policy.
--Field Level Media
Phoenix | Denver | |
Kelly Oubre Jr. 23 | Scoring | Jamal Murray 27 |
Ricky Rubio 9 | Assists | Nikola Jokic 12 |
Frank Kaminsky 11 | Rebounds | Nikola Jokic 14 |
Frank Kaminsky 11 | Free Throws Made | Jamal Murray 9 |
Ricky Rubio 3 | Steals | Gary Harris 2 |
Devin Booker 1 | Blocks | Torrey Craig 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Phoenix | 107 | 39.5 | 8-28 | 31-32 | 25 | 54 | 1 | 5 | 18 |
Denver | 108 | 39.1 | 7-27 | 29-36 | 21 | 45 | 12 | 7 | 14 |