With five weeks left in the regular season, Phoenix is fighting Suns and Denver Nuggets for the playoffs. While Denver is jockey for the second overall seed of the Western conference, Phoenix is fighting for his life after the season.
Suns sits outside the Play-in tournament with 20 matches left, and each of these is an opportunity to get land, starting at Nuggets on Friday night.
Phoenix won two of three matches, the latest against the Los Angeles Clippers when they collected from 23 down. The victory is overshadowed by star Kevin Durant who exchanged heated words with coach Mike Budenholzer in front of the Suns bench during the game, which Durant Bagatellized according to the fact.
“He allows me as a player in the team, a veteran in the team, to express my opinion,” Durant said after the game. “If we both don’t care, we would never have such things. … It shows that I and Bud really care about trying to correct this ship and trying to win basketball.”
The 6-foot-11 force was instrumental in the comeback with 34 points, and Durant leads Phoenix in points at 26.9 points per match. Devin Booker is second (25.9 ppg) and Bradley Beal rounds off the top three (17.6).
Friday starts a critical four-game road trip to teams before Suns in the position. It is also the last of four matches between them and Denver, with Nuggets who won two of the first three, including one on Phoenix on February 8.
Durant missed that loss with an ankle injury, and Suns missed his 25-point average over two performances against Denver this season.
The nuggets settle into the matchup. Reserve guard Julian Stawnher will miss at least four weeks with a left knee destruction and Aaron Gordon has put out the last three games with a left ankle.
Denver got Peyton Watson back from his right knee injury in the victory over Sacramento on Wednesday evening. He got two points in 16 minutes in his first match since January 31.
“It felt good to be back, felt good to go out there and help the team win the game,” said Watson, who leads the team in blocks with 1.2 per match. “Definitely some rust to turn off. I’m not one for excuses. I’m here to help us get winnings and help us win games. That’s my role in this team. I want to get better on Friday.”
Nuggets got a boost from his bench in Wednesday’s victory and a large elevator from Russell Westbrook, which started instead of Gordon. He had 25 points and is on average 12.9 points a game, tied with Gordon for the fifth, and is also tied with Jamal Murray for second place in assists with 6.1 per game
Jokic leads the team in points (28.8 ppg), rebounds (12.8) and assists (10.4) – place him in the three best of the NBA in each category. Murray is second in points of 21.4 points a game and Michael Porter Jr. is on average 18.4 points.
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