With Mile High Playoff Dreams, Suns Take on Denver

Phoenix Suns (15-30) v Denver Nuggets (19-25)

Thursday 1/26/2017 7:00pm
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Arizona Sports 98.7FM

Season Series – Nuggets lead 2-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 95-71
Last Matchup – November 27, 2016 Denver Nuggets won 120-114
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-111
Nuggets’ Last Game – Win over Utah Jazz 103-93
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 106.2 (12th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 111.5 (29th of 30)
Nuggets’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 109.7 (4th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 110.9 (28th of 30)

Preview

The Phoenix Suns lost a heart-breaker to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night when

More from Valley of the Suns

Andrew Wiggins nailed a mid-range jumper with P.J. Tucker draped over him, at the buzzer. The loss was particularly devastating since the Suns have fought throughout the fourth quarter and had the lead with 6 seconds remaining. It also nullified great games from Tyson Chandler (22p and 17r) and Devin Booker (26p and 4 three’s). For the Official Valley of the Suns wrap-up and opinions, read here.

Losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves also snapped the Suns’ two-game winning streak, the longest streak of the season to date. In fact, Phoenix has not had a three-games win streak since November 12, 14, 16, 2015.

2016 was the first calendar year in franchise history that the Suns did not have a winning streak of at least three games and their 440 day streak without a minimum three-game streak is the longest in franchise history.

5 Important Stats

Phoenix Suns

1. Eric Bledsoe has made 32 consecutive free throws. He is shooting 85.0% on the season (5% higher than his career-high) and 98% in his last 5 games.

2. After a stretch of four out of five games in last January to early December where they Suns held opponents under 100 points, they have allowed over 100 in 8 straight, their opponents averaging 110.25.

3. Tyson Chandler’s 22p and 17r was his second 20 and 15 game in a week. Using those two games as bookends, Chandler is averaging 17.24p and 14.5r while shooting 71% from the field.

4. Granted they give up the second most points per game, but the Suns are also bottom six in points allowed per quarter.

5. Since January 1, Devin Booker has had seven games with at least 3 three-pointers made. He had only six in the 33 games from the start of the season through December 31.

Denver Nuggets

1. The Nuggets have scored 120 points in each of their defeats against the Suns this season.

2. Denver is generally a slow starting team, but by the second quarter they are the only team in the league to average over 30 points.

3. Denver averages both 14.4 fastbreak points per game, and 14.4 fastbreak points per game allowed.

4. Second year point guard and former number seven pick overall Emmanuel Mudiay has has over 7 assists three times this season. He is unlikely to play vs the Suns tonight due to back stiffness.

5. Nikola Jokic has 17 double-doubles on the season, including 7 of his last 8 games. In that stretch he is averaging 24.4p and 11r while shooting 62.2% from the field.

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