Phoenix Suns Bum Rushed By Denver Nuggets To End Preseason on Sour Note, 144-106

The Phoenix Suns continued their ugly preseason with an uninspiring 144-106 loss to the Denver Nuggets, who were without Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Nene Hilario, Al Harrington, Kenyon Martin, and Chris Anderson.

"It just happened to be one of those games," said Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry. "I don't think we'll be giving up close to 150 points in games. It's an alarming thing, but it's something we got to solve and we got to solve it soon."

Phoenix was only down 29-25 after the first quarter, but then behind a 22-point second quarter by Ty Lawson and 13 points from Shelden Williams, the Suns gave up an astonishing 49 points. 

It was clear there was a lack of energy by the Suns in the second quarter, which was highlighted by a Nuggets five-on-one fast break and two easy hoops after Suns baskets with the defensive not paying attention, the second of which led to an Alvin Gentry 20-second timeout where he lit into his lethargic team.

Jason Richardson believes the lack of vigor starts with him.

"I just didn't have the energy like I normally did," said Richardson. "Me being the leader, a team captain, and a guy that the team relies on for scoring, I got to bring it every night. There can't be nights off, even in the preseason."

Luckily for the Suns, this wraps up a disappointing preseason where they struggled to a 2-6 record.

Next time Phoenix takes the court, on Tuesday, October 26 at the Portland Trailblazers, the games are for real. 

It will be interesting to see if this veteran Suns team is able to flip the switch once the games count or if these lackluster preseason performances are a sign of things to come.   

Suns Get Smashed By Nuggets In Final Preseason Game, 144-106

Phoenix, AZ (Sports Network) – Even without using a top-flight roster, the Denver Nuggets placed five players with at least 20 points in a 144-106 rout of the Phoenix Suns in the preseason finale for both clubs.

Ty Lawson led the way with 29 points off the bench and Gary Forbes added 25, also in a reserve role. The duo combined to go 18-of-25 from the field, part of a 64.1 percent shooting effort for the Nuggets.

Shelden Williams ended with 27 points, while Arron Afflalo narrowly missed a triple-double with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Anthony Carter notched 20 points.

Lawson had 22 points during a ridiculous 49-point second quarter for the Nuggets, who went 16-of-22 from the field in the period.

The Nuggets, who sat out Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Nene went 5-3 in the preseason. They will open the regular season at home against Utah on Wednesday.

Denver’s J.R. Smith suffered a left quadriceps contusion in the second quarter, but returned later in the period. He didn’t play in the second half and is considered day-to-day.

Jared Dudley had 17 points for Phoenix, which ended 2-6 in exhibition play. Steve Nash chipped in 11 points and 12 assists for the Suns, who begin the 2010-11 campaign on Tuesday in Portland.

Suns Finish Preseason With A Little Denver Nugget Fun, 7 P.M. AZT

The Phoenix Suns take on the Denver Nuggets in the final test of the preseason. After logging what head coach Alvin Gentry insisted must be the most preseason air miles of a team in the history of basketball, the Suns closed out their road-weary October schedule with a final week in Phoenix. 

The team was able to get several practice sessions in, a solid day off that included a trip to the blowing alley (as documented by Jared Dudley) and two home tune-up games. The down side, and karma requires that there is always a down side, was Josh Childress breaking the tip of his right index finger.

J-Chill will sit out tonight's game and be re-evaluated early next week. He's planning on playing through the six weeks it will take to heal, but he's not Kobe Bryant. Which isn't to say he's not as tough as Kobe, but to say the Suns can survive without him for a few weeks. That's a better option than not letting the finger get better and dragging out his recovery time as Kobe did.

The Denver Nuggets come to town with a preseason record of 4-3 and are coming off a game last night in Portland. 

The story from Nugget-land this summer is Carmelo Anthony's "will he stay or will he go" situation. The most recent rumors have him going to the Knicks, but SB Nation's blog Denver Stiffs says to ignore that concocted East Coast media hogwash.

Other big Nuggets news includes a fancy new neck tattoo for Chris Andersen, J.R. Smith being cleared by the Denver police in a choking incident (he allegedly choked a person, not a clutch shot), and Ty Lawson putting up better preseason numbers than Chauncey Billups. The best news, though, is that head coach George Karl is back on the bench after kicking cancer in the ass last season.