The Denver Nuggets (51-28) looked like they were on pace to steal Game 1 on the road against the Phoenix Suns (56-23) as they at one point led by 10 around four minutes into the third quarter. Denver was outscored by 27 points over the final 20 minutes of game time as they were unable to get stops on defense, and, when they got good looks on offense, the shots weren’t falling.
As they did against Portland, they “wasted” a great game by Aaron Gordon. Gordon poured in 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting with three offensive rebounds and three steals on defense.