The Denver Nuggets will be gunning for a fifth win in six regular-season matches when they welcome the Phoenix Suns to the Ball Arena for Tuesday's heavyweight encounter.
Meanwhile, the away side make the trip to Colorado aiming to get themselves back on track and snap a run of back-to-back defeats in the first of two matches against their hosts either side of Christmas.
Match preview
Off the back of an agonising 126-124 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Denver Nuggets wrapped up their three-game road trip with a 132-129 overtime victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on Monday.
With Michael Malone's men 10 seconds away from yet another loss, Jamal Murray hit a late game-tying shot to send the clash to overtime before scoring his side's final five points to make sure of things after Aaron Gordon had given the Nuggets a late lead.
Recovering from a scoreless first quarter, Nikola Jokic notched a game-high 27 points—level with Murray—on 11-20 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his 11th triple-double of the campaign.
Following defeats in three of their four matches to kick off December, the Nuggets have now won four of the subsequent five to move up to 15-11 for the year and, consequently, fifth place in a highly competitive Western Conference.
Having lost all three meetings against their next opponents since the turn of the year, Tuesday's hosts will be wary of coming away empty-handed in front of their fans, where they are unbeaten since late November.
A three-game homestretch against the Trail Blazers, the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons provided the Phoenix Suns with a favourable run of matches to string together a decent run of results, but it is safe to say things did not go as planned.
Mike Budenholzer's men successfully navigated the challenge of the Blazers last Tuesday before suffering a 111-120 defeat to the Pacers four days later and a 125-133 loss to the Pistons on Sunday at the Footprint Centre.
After giving up a whopping 41 points in the first 12 minutes, the Suns tightened up a bit in the second quarter to go into half time trailing 59-64 but were just unable to mount a second-half comeback against a spirited Pistons outfit.
It is now five defeats from the last seven matches for the Arizona-based outfit, who have dropped out of playoff contention at the moment as they sit 11th in the West, albeit still with a winning record of 14-13.
Ranking in the bottom four for points in the paint this term, Tuesday's visitors will have their work cut out in the painted area against an opposing side second in that category, only behind the Memphis Grizzlies.
Denver Nuggets NBA form:
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
Phoenix Suns NBA form:
- L
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
Team News
DaRon Holmes II is a guaranteed absentee for the Denver Nuggets here as he continues to nurse an Achilles tendon injury he suffered towards the end of July.
Twenty-seven-year-old Vlatko Cancar also misses out for the home side with a sprained left knee and is not expected to return to action until early February.
Bol Bol will not have the opportunity to suit up against his former side as the center is currently nursing a knee problem, while Collin Gillespie is out with an ankle injury.
Guard duo Grayson Allen and Devin Booker are ruled out through concussion and groin injuries respectively, but both men are expected to be available for next week's clash against the Dallas Mavericks.
Kevin Durant tallied a season-high 43 points last time out to take his average for the campaign to 27.4, which currently ranks eighth in the league and is 0.3 more than he managed last time out.
Denver Nuggets possible starting five:
Murray, Braun; Porter Jr., Gordon; Jokic
Phoenix Suns possible starting five:
Jones, Beal; Durant, O'Neale; Nurkic
We say: Nuggets to win by 5+ points
The Suns have enjoyed the better of this fixture of late, but their injury woes coming into this one have significantly hampered their chances of coming out on top.
While we expect the visitors to put up a decent fight nonetheless, we can see the home side carrying the day in the end.
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