After a thrilling victory, the Phoenix Suns will now try to avoid falling short against a less formidable opponent in the NBA. The Suns welcome the struggling Toronto Raptors on Thursday night in an attempt to win again after defeating the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.
Phoenix is just half a game ahead of the Sacramento Kings, who occupy the top play-in berth in the Western Conference, despite Phoenix’s sixth-place ranking. The Suns’ 117-107 overtime triumph against the visiting Nuggets may go down as one of their most significant victories. With just 26.6 seconds remaining in regulation, Kevin Durant’s 3-pointer was necessary for Phoenix to force OT after they lost a 22-point third-quarter lead. With eight points in the overtime period, Durant took the lead and the Suns defeated Denver 15–5.
“You look at the totality of the season, obviously the end result is always important, playing in the playoffs, trying to win a championship, those are important,” Durant stated. “But you celebrate little moments.” Despite shooting just 14 of 34 from the field, Durant scored 35 points. Grayson Allen scored 28 points and made eight 3-pointers.
“Saw a few go in early and got more aggressive with the ones I was taking and they kept going in,” Allen said. Despite missing standout player Devin Booker (ankle) for the second straight game, the Suns surprised the Nuggets. He’s not coming in on Thursday. Center Jusuf Nurkic of Phoenix collected 12 rebounds against Denver, following up a career-high 31 on Sunday in a 118-110 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Before their victory over the Nuggets, Phoenix had lost four of their previous six games. Toronto, which won 112-105 at home on November 29, is aiming for a two-game sweep in the season series. Scottie Barnes led the Raptors with 23 points, while Durant scored 30 for the Suns. Barnes underwent surgery on Monday to fix a broken bone in his left hand, leaving him out indefinitely.
Even if the Toronto All-Star heals in time to play again this season, the Raptors are on track to lose 50 games, so he might not be able to play much. Tuesday’s surgery on center Jakob Poeltl’s left pinkie finger dealt the Raptors yet another setback. Sunday, in a 111-106 victory against the Charlotte Hornets at home, he sustained an injury. The visiting New Orleans Pelicans thrashed Toronto 139-98 on Tuesday because they were not competitive without Barnes and Poeltl. The Raptors’ worst home loss in franchise history was the 41-point deficit.
Immanuel Quickley, a recent acquisition, sensed the issue. “Effort and energy have to be at a very high level, and we didn’t do that,” Quickley stated. For the Raptors, who shot only 38.7 percent from the field and 13 of 44 (29.5 percent) from 3-point range, Quickley scored 17 points. After the first quarter’s halfway point, Toronto had a 21-19 lead, but the game soon started to slide away. The Pelicans “caught fire at the 3-point line,” according to Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic. “We started subbing and went to our bench guys and it quickly went south from there.” Toronto, which is now in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, is suffering from a mounting injury list.
Guard Ochai Agbaji (knee) left the New Orleans game in the third quarter, and guard Bruce Brown (knee) will miss his third straight game on Thursday. Agbaji’s suitability to play against the Suns was questioned. The Raptors will play four games on the road starting on Thursday.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Leave a Reply