Suns 110, Nuggets 100
PHOENIX - Goran Dragic led seven Phoenix players in double figures with 21 points, and the Suns overcame another sluggish start by hitting seven of 12 three-pointers to snap Denver's four-game winning streak with a 110-100 win Monday night.
Shannon Brown had 19 points off the bench and Michael Beasley added 16 for the Suns, who have trailed by at least 10 points in seven of their eight games this season, including all four at US Airways Center. But a 10-point deficit in the first quarter took only a few minutes to erase, and a 13-2 run over the final four minutes of the game put it away.
Andre Iguodala had 17 points and JaVale McGee added 16 for the Nuggets, who had beaten the Suns six straight times dating back to November 2010 but could not finish them off this time.
Phoenix led by seven midway through the fourth quarter before the Nuggets rallied using a pair of McGee dunks and Danilo Gallinari's four-foot bank shot to pull within one at 97-96 with 3:59 left. But the Suns ran away from there, with Dragic's fourth three-pointer in five tries for the night starting the final push and his 19-footer with 1:38 stretching the Phoenix lead to 106-98.
Jared Dudley had 15 points, Luis Scola and Marcin Gortat 12 each and Markieff Morris a season-high 11 off the bench as the Suns, the second-worst three-point shooting team in the league coming into the game, finally found the range.
The Nuggets jumped out to a quick 16-6 lead, thanks to a run of seven straight points from forward Kenneth Faried. The Suns offense struggled, with Beasley missing six of his first eight shots and Denver turning the misses into some of their 17 fastbreak points in the first half.
Phoenix answered with a 12-2 run, with Dragic doing most of the damage, hitting a pair of three-pointers during a personal run of 10 straight points. But the Nuggets closed the quarter with back-to-back dunks by McGee and a Corey Brewer three-pointer to grab a 27-23 lead after one.
The Suns got a boost off the bench from Shannon Brown in the second quarter, when the Suns took the lead with a 14-5 run. Brown had 10 of his 11 first-half points in the quarter and his layup off a P.J. Tucker feed pushed the Suns to a 39-34 lead with 5:18 left. But Denver shifted its running game back into gear with Ty Lawson and Corey Brewer leading the way. Iguodala's three-pointer with 2:27 left capped an 11-2 run as the Nuggets went into halftime with a 57-54 lead.
NOTES: The Nuggets are playing 17 of their first 23 games on the road this season and will have played more than 40 percent of their road schedule after playing in Minnesota on Dec. 12 ... Wilson Chandler returned to the Denver lineup after missing four of the last five games with a hip injury ... Despite some bouts with sloppy play, the Suns came into Monday averaging only 14 turnovers a game, sixth-best in the NBA. Phoenix has averaged 14 turnovers or fewer only three times in their 45-year franchise history ... Five different Suns (Dragic, Brown, Beasley, Scola and Gortat) are averaging 12 points or better in the first seven games, and each has led the team in scoring at least once.
