The shorthanded Denver Nuggets (12 - 17) defeated the Phoenix Suns (12 - 19) 104 - 96 on Wednesday. This was a bizarre game, but Denver took a 33 - 21 lead in the first quarter and never looked back after that. The free - throw shooting was pathetic from both teams, as Denver went 6 - for - 13, while the Suns went 11 - for - 17. This was Denver's third time winning the second half of a back - to - back this season and that's a good sign of resiliency for this young team. That snapped a three - game losing streak for Denver, which is a great sign with Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Cleveland next on the schedule. The Nuggets training staff is one of the busiest in the NBA right now and it's amazing they pulled off a win here. They were missing Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Jusuf Nurkic, Emmanuel Mudiay and Jameer Nelson in this game, yet still pulled it out. They went with an eight - man rotation and Randy Foye played one of the games of his career. Foye scored a season - high 31 points and dished out six assists. The bench was spectacular as well, as Will Barton, Nikola Jokic and Darrell Arthur combined for 49 points, 28 rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and two blocks in the victory. Those were the only three players to come off the bench and it was a hell of a coaching job by Mike Malone to manage everyones minutes. Denver's next game will be a tough one though, as they take on a San Antonio Spurs who are undefeated at home this season. The Suns came into this game as nearly a double - digit favorite, but let down big time here. They let a shorthanded Nuggets team run them up and down the floor and they simply didn’t put in enough effort to win. Brandon Knight played well though, as he scored a team - high 21 points and handed out 10 assists. Ronnie Price also scored a career - high 20 points off the bench and was one of the only Suns playing good defense. This is a concerning loss for Phoenix and it says more about them than it does the Nuggets. Phoenix has a great chance to win in their next game though, as they host the one - win Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
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