Nikola Jokic, Nuggets roll over Suns to reach Western Conference Finals

The Denver Nuggets came close to closing.

Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets completely dominated the stenographer Phoenix Suns Thursday evening to officially secure their place in the Western Conference Finals. Nuggets flew to plain 125-100 blowout win Over the Sun at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, which closed out the Western Conference Semifinal series 4-2. It was the largest margin of victory by any road team so far this postseason.

The Nuggets flew forward at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. They closed out the period with a score of 17-0 in the final three minutes, giving them an 18-point lead. They quickly pushed that to 30 by halftime, thanks to a 17-4 run late in the second quarter. The sun was blown out by 11 on the panels, and Denver semi closed Kevin Durant completely down. Durant held only 8 points in the first half after shooting 2-of-11 from the field.

The Suns narrowed the gap briefly in the second half, but it was too late to make any meaningful push. The Nuggets breezed past 25 points and will now advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2020 — when they lost to Los Angeles Lakers In the Walt Disney World bubble due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nuggets have never reached the NBA Finals. They had lost in the ABA Finals once prior to the merger.

Jokić — who hit his 10th career triple-double in his Game 5 victory, which set an NBA record — led the Nuggets with 32 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds on Thursday. He is the first player to have three triple-doubles in the same playoff series since then Russell Westbrook He did in 2017. Jamal Murray He added 26 points, and Kentavius ​​Caldwell Pope He finished with 21 points. They have shot approximately 54% from the field as a team.

Durant finished with 23 points, and ended up shooting 8-of-19 from the field. Cameron Payne Dropped 31 points after shooting 7-of-9 from behind the arc. Devin Booker He finished with 12 points and 8 assists, shooting just 4 of 13 from the field.

The sun was missing both Chris Paul And Deender Eaton. Paul missed most of the series with a hip injury. Ayton was ruled out Thursday afternoon with a bruised rib, something he sustained in Game 5 on Tuesday night after a collision with him Bruce Brown. But, perhaps even more disappointingly for Suns fans, Phoenix has now been on the wrong end of the explosion with a spot in the Conference Finals on the line for back-to-back seasons. the Dallas Mavericks They beat the Suns by 33 points in Game 7 of last season’s Western Conference Semifinals series.

The Nuggets will now await the winner of the “California State Championship” series in the Conference Finals. The Lakers lead 3-2 in the series Golden State Warriors They headed into game six of their series on Friday night.