PHOENIX — The Suns were shell-shocked, rattled, silenced. Underneath the wishful enthusiasm of an ill-timed T-shirt toss, where gameday staffers hurled free gear into the Footprint Center lower bowl that was already half-empty, Phoenix’s coaches and players appeared just short of lifeless.
Over five minutes still remained in Game 6 against the top-seeded Nuggets on Thursday, an eventual 125-100 loss that concluded the Suns’ season. But while Denver was entrenched in a rousing fourth-quarter timeout, Phoenix finished the stoppage with blank stares and no semblance of a huddle.