Jamal Murray’s 34 points led the Denver Nuggets to a dominant 125-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their NBA Western Conference semi-final series on Saturday.
Despite the Suns looking dangerous in the first quarter, connecting on 66.7 percent of their shots, the Nuggets took control and led 68-51 at halftime.
Six Nuggets players scored in double digits, with Nikola Jokic adding 24 points and 19 rebounds. Although Kevin Durant scored 29 points and Devin Booker scored 27 points for the Suns, they couldn’t get the deficit below 10 points in the second half.
Denver outscored Phoenix with 16 three-pointers to seven, scored 18 points off 16 Suns turnovers and outrebounded them 49-38.
Murray’s back-to-back three-pointers in the fourth quarter helped the Nuggets to a 120-95 lead, and they closed out the game comfortably.
The Suns will need to make significant adjustments before Game 2 on Monday to avoid falling into a two-game hole.
