The Denver Nuggets on Thursday crushed the Phoenix Suns 125-100 to become the first team to reach the NBA conference finals as the Boston Celtics forced a decisive Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Western Conference top seeds Denver dominated from start to finish in Phoenix as they polished off the Suns 4-2 in their best-of-seven conference semi-final.
The Nuggets reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the COVID-19 “bubble” in Florida in 2020 and face either reigning champions Golden State or the Los Angeles Lakers, who hold a 3-2 lead in their series.
Photo: Joe Camporeale-USA Today
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic delivered his third triple-double of the series, scoring 32 points with 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Jokic said the Nuggets shrugged off the idea of a “hostile environment” at the Footprint Center and played with “the same mindset that we are playing with at home — just be aggressive, move them from the spots, make them make tough shots, and I think we did that.”
The Nuggets silenced the Phoenix crowd as they dominated virtually every facet of the game on the way to an 81-51 halftime lead — which sparked a smattering of boos from the home spectators.
Jamal Murray, who was questionable to start because of illness, scored 26 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 21 for Denver, who outscored the Suns 62-46 in the paint, outrebounded them 41-29 and had 18 second-chance points to the Suns’ seven.
Cameron Payne drilled seven of nine three-pointers on the way to 31 points for Phoenix. Kevin Durant added 23 and Devin Booker 12.
With veteran point guard Chris Paul missing a fourth straight game with a groin injury and center Deandre Ayton ruled out with a rib injury, the Suns endured another embarrassing exit after last year’s elimination on their home floor by the Dallas Mavericks.
Durant was not around for that one, having arrived in February via a blockbuster trade with Brooklyn, but he did not enjoy this year’s version.
“It sucked,” the two-time NBA champion said. “It was a bad feeling. It was embarrassing. They came out and hit us in the mouth, and we couldn’t recover.”
In Philadelphia, Jayson Tatum scored 16 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Celtics held off the 76ers 95-86 to level their Eastern Conference semi-final at 3-3.
The Boston forward had made just one of 14 attempts from the floor when he erupted with four three-pointers in the final period as the Celtics thwarted Philadelphia’s comeback bid.
Joel Embiid had 26 points with 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, but James Harden scored just 13 on four-of-13 shooting.
Tatum, who averaged 30.1 points per game in the regular season, said he never lost confidence even as he struggled.
“I’m, humbly, one of the best basketball players in the world,” Tatum told ESPN in an on-court interview of maintaining his confidence. “Thankfully, I’ve got some great teammates that held it down... They tell me: ‘Keep taking great looks, it’s going to fall.’”
“All that mattered was we won this game,” said Tatum, who also had seven rebounds, six assists, a steal and two blocked shots. “It’s Game 7, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Marcus Smart led the Celtics with 22 points. Jaylen Brown added 17 and Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 off the bench.
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