Denver’s Bruce Brown took full advantage of the starters being out last night and dropped a career-high 31 points
The Denver Nuggets have locked up the #1 seed in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. With that, they sat their usual starting five last night. Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all did not play. Their bench players almost pulled off an upset vs Phoenix but lost a close one, 119-115 on the road. Leading both teams in scoring last night was Bruce Brown with a career-high 31 points.
Head coach Michael Malone used a nine-man rotation for Denver last night and almost pulled off the upset with bench players. However, they could not withstand the (.472) three-point percentage from Phoenix as a team last night. Brown came into the game last night averaging (11.2) points per game and exploded for a new career-high vs the Suns.
Colorado Sports Betting sites have the Nuggets at (+950) to win the Finals this season.
Bruce Brown tonight against the Suns:
31 PTS
6 REB
4 AST
11-18 FG
9-9 FTCareer high scoring game, and almost led the Nuggets to a dub against the fully healthy Suns 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/XBG0fqbxA0
— BruceMuse (@BruceBrownMuse) April 7, 2023
Bruce Brown scored a new career-high 31 points vs the Phoenix Suns last night
The Nuggets lost a close 119-115 game last night vs the Phoenix Suns in a game where they rested all five of their starters. It gave a chance for their bench players to shine and Bruce Brown took full advantage of his team-high 38 minutes vs Phoenix.
He went 11-18 from the field and was a perfect 9-9 at the charity stripe. Brown also had six rebounds and four assists. His valiant effort was not enough to stop the hot shooting of the Suns from deep, specifically Kevin Durant and Chris Paul. They combined to go 13-22 from beyond the arc and were fueling their team all night.
Pauls’ seven three-pointers made were a new career-high and he’s not the guy on Phoenix who you think would be lighting it up from deep. If that’s the case, every team in the West should be nervous to face the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs.
After their loss to the Suns, the Nuggets have two regular season games left and Michael Malone could take the same approach he took last night. The Nuggets play the Jazz on the road on Saturday and then have the second of a back-to-back on Sunday vs the Kings at home.
Source: Basketball Insider
