May 8, 2023 (Jack87 News) – The NBA semi-finals in the Western Conference continued to be fought fiercely. The Phoenix Suns defeated the Denver Nuggets 129-124 at home, tying the total score of the series to 2-2. BK8 Paul continued to be absent in this campaign, while Booker and Durant scored a combined 72 points to overpower Jokic’ 53 points.
The score of the four quarters (Nuggets first): 34-32, 27-31, 31-35, 32-31.
Suns Player Stats: Durant 36 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, Ayton 8 points and 8 rebounds, Booker 36 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists, Payne 5 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, Shamet 19 points, Langdale 8 points and 5 rebounds, Warren 5 points and 2 assists, and Terrence Ross 8 points and 2 rebounds.
Nuggets Player Stats: Porter 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists, Gordon 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Jokic 53 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists, Pope 10 points, Murray 28 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, Bruce Brown 5 Points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and Jeff Green 5 points.
Bet99 Booker and Durant entered attack mode at the beginning of the game. The two led the team to a 9-4 start. Gordon made the first three-pointer of the Nuggets, while Porter contributed 4 points. Coupled with Jokic’s three-pointer, the Nuggets completed a 19-6 attack wave to overtook the score to 23-15. Durant made an extreme mid-range shot, combined with Booker’s shot from inside and outside. The two jointly contributed 24 points. But the Nuggets continued to blossom in this quarter where they led by 2 points 34-32.
In the second quarter, the Suns’ bench group finally showed their faces, and start a wave of 11-5 attacks to overtook the score. Murray made two mid-range shots to stop the bleeding, Jokic blocked the frontcourt hook in the backcourt and scored, and the Nuggets duo responded with an 8-2 spurt. Booker played 20 minutes in the first two quarters and scored 19 points. His performance was super efficient. Jokic responded with a three-pointer and caused Ayton’s second foul. With 2 minutes and 36 seconds left, Jokic was whistled for a technical foul for pushing the Suns boss off the court. Durant scored 21 points in two quarters, but the Suns only led by 2 points 63-61 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Booker fouled twice in less than two minutes, Jokic scored with a hook, and he also assisted Porter with a long three-pointer. The Nuggets played an 8-4 spurt. Booker made 6 of 6 shots in a single quarter and scored 17 points. With a minute left, Booker hit two unreasonable three-pointers in a row. After a 9-2 spurt, the Suns continued to suppress the Nuggets 98-92. However, Booker and Ayton also had 4 fouls.
In the last quarter, Murray led the team to continue chasing points. After the timeout, 22Bet Booker returned to the court, Jokic hit a hook, and Booker assisted Shamet, who was feeling hot, and scored another 3 points. On the defensive end, Durant blocked Jokic, and when Shamet made a shot from the bottom corner after his fourth three-pointer in this section, the Suns led 116-106 by 10 points with less than 5 minutes left. Murray made a three-pointer, Jokic assisted Gordon for a dunk, and the Nuggets played a 6-2 spurtin order to narrow the point difference to 3 points. With Durant making two free throws, the Suns sealed the victory. In the end, the Phoenix Suns defeated the Denver Nuggets 129-124 at home, tying the total score of the series at 2-2.
