Game Recap: Suns get the Christmas Day win over Denver, 110-100

It was a Christmas miracle. The Phoenix Suns got the win.

The Phoenix Suns showed up with one of their best defensive efforts of the season tonight and secured the win on Christmas Day. It was their first Christmas Day win since 2009.

After losing by 27 points to the Nuggets a couple of nights ago in Denver, the Suns looked like a completely different team. Bradley Beal had one of his most complete two-way performances of the season and carried the Suns to a much-needed win.

The energy was high and the Suns did the little things on both ends. Where has this been the past few weeks?!

Top Performers

• Kevin Durant — 27 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 9-27 FG
• Bradley Beal — 27 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 11-21 FG
• Nikola Jokic— 25 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 10-19 FG
• Michael Porter Jr. — 22 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 7-14 FG

First Half

The Suns were rolling early, building a 17-8 advantage led by 5 points each from Tyus Jones and Jusuf Nurkic.

Phoenix’s energy and focus looked much better to start this one, especially the role players.

They got corner threes out of Josh Okogie and Ryan Dunn early, a welcome sight. He earned this one with the hustle to chase down the loose ball after Kevin Durant was stripped.

Phoenix’s offense was clicking in the opening quarter, knocking down six straight threes.

After one, the Suns led 38-34. Durant led Phoenix with 10 points and Jokic led all scorers with 15.

Ryan Dunn and Josh Okogie provided a spark of energy for the Suns, grabbing offensive rebounds, diving for loose balls, etc… all the type of stuff they need from the non-stars.

The offense stalled a bit for both teams in the second quarter after combining for 68 points in the opening period.

Denver went on a 9-0 run to storm in front and take their first lead of the game, 54-53.

Phoenix went back up by two to enter the half with a 58-56 advantage.

Second Half

The teams traded shots early in the second half with Durant scoring 9 points in his first nine minutes of action in the third quarter.

The Suns had an awesome sequence here that stemmed from a Bradley Beal rejection, leading to a Ryan Dunn fastbreak slam. This felt vintage Suns-ish.

The Suns took an 85-78 lead heading into the final quarter.

Phoenix forced a Denver timeout with 8:58 left in the quarter after a Monte Morris jumper extended the Suns lead to 7. The energy continued to be high across the board, forcing several Denver turnovers.

Royce O’Neale drilled a three to push the Suns into a 99-87 advantage leading to a timeout after a 7-0 Phoenix run.

The Suns were able to build a solid lead with Jokic out and never looked back. A Tyus Jones triple was icing on the cake and stuck the dagger into Denver.

They got the job done against a team that has given them fits in recent years.

Up Next?

The Suns will host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night at the Footprint Center. Dallas will be without Luka Doncic after he suffered a calf strain.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images