DENVER – The Denver Nuggets made the roughly three-hour flight from New Orleans back home to play Phoenix in the second of a back-to-back on Monday night – and absolutely destroyed the Suns.

Phoenix trailed by as many as 28 points in the second half in a 117-90 loss to a team that has just a plus-2.5 on plus/minus and played nine one-possession games.

Denver has played down to the wire for most of the season, as was the case in coming back from 17 points down in the second half to beat the five-win Pelicans by three, 132-129, just 24 hours earlier.

One of New Orleans’ five wins came against the Suns by the way.

The Nuggets are 8-1 in those one-possession games. Monday’s win wasn’t even close.

The Suns were without Devin Booker (left groin soreness), Grayson Allen (concussion protocol) and Bol Bol (left knee contusion), but they still have Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and talent to follow.

The latter didn’t matter. Denver still thoroughly beat them down on the second of a back-to-back.

The Suns (14-14) are miles away from their 8-1 start. They are 6-13 in their last 19 games, losing their last three in which they’ve given up 120, 133 and 117 points.

Phoenix will have a chance to avenge this ugly defeat Christmas Day at home. The Suns may get Booker, Allen and Bol back, but the Nuggets (16-11) drummed them without Jamal Murray (ankle), who they hope will be back for Wednesday’s game.

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic scored 32 points in three quarters as he didn’t play in the fourth. Michael Porter Jr. added 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting.

Here are three takeaways from the Suns’ blowout loss on Monday.

Worst defeat so far

The was Phoenix’s worst defeat of the season and not just because it’s the largest margin of defeat. They lacked effort and energy against a team playing the second of a back-to-back.

They had poor closeouts on 3s. They gave up countless drives to the rim.

There were careless turnovers again. No box outs. Little to no resistance.

Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal each scored 23 points, but the Suns shot 39.8% from field in scoring under 100 points. They committed 15 turnovers that led to just 18 Denver points.

That’s actually an improvement from the Indiana and Detroit losses, but poor shooting, combined with even poorer defense doomed the Suns.

The Nuggets shot 51%, scored 50 paint points and scored 19 points in transition.

Phoenix didn’t win any phases of this game. Not a single one.

It was embarrassing for a team that is expecting to compete for a championship. They instead look like their record and place in the Western Conference — 11th.

Right now, they’re not a playoff team. 

Another bad second-half start

The Suns used a 14-5 run in closing Denver’s double-digit lead to four at the half only to yield an 11-3 run to fall behind by 15 points.

This is a microcosm of what’s wrong with the Suns.

Bad defense. Jokic got whatever he wanted on Jusuf Nurkic. Porter Jr. knocked down 3 on Royce O’Neale’s slow closeout.

Durant made a bad crosscourt pass his former Oklahoma City teammate, Russell Westbrook stole and took back for the one-handed dunk.

Then after a Phoenix timeout, the Suns give up an offensive rebound to Westbrook, who dunked it one-handed with an appropriate scream afterward.

It has become all too common for Phoenix to come out even after playing well to end the half and play slow, flat and lacking energy to start the third quarter.

The Nuggets outscored the Suns, 45-28, in the third on an insane 69.2% shooting from the field, going 7-of-11 from 3.

Absolutely inexcusable defense from the Suns.

Starting O’Neale, Dunn off the bench?

When Beal was out early in the season, rookie Ryan Dunn was starting with O’Neale coming off the bench.

Coach Mike Budenholzer’s rationale for that decision?

He liked O’Neale coming off the bench because of what he brought to the second unit.

Now, in a similar situation with Booker being out, he’s starting O’Neale and bringing Dunn off the bench.

Dunn has considerably cooled from 3 since hitting 11 of his first 25 attempts in his first five games. He’s since gone 15-of-59.

O’Neale had a heated seven-game stretch from 3, shooting 28-of-47, but went 0-for-5 in the first half Monday. He finished 2-of-8 in scoring six points.

Considering the injury history of Beal and Booker, O’Neale and Dunn are going to play a role. The question is how much of it will depend upon how they’re shooting from 3.

The Suns can score. They need defense. The one who can better address that ill may need more minutes or need to start the game if one of the Big 3 is out.

O’Neale struggled mightily Monday night on close-out 3s and defending in the paint. O’Neale later revealed after the game he injured his hip, but didn’t use that as an excuse for his play on both ends.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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