Jose M. Romero/NBA.com
Eric Bledsoe had 30 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and the Phoenix Suns cruised to a 105-81 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.
Tyson Chandler added 11 points and eight rebounds as Phoenix stopped Denver’s three-game winning streak. The Suns have won seven of the last eight meetings between the teams.
Will Barton led the Nuggets with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Emmanuel Mudiay scored 13.
Phoenix led by as many as 37 points in the second half and was in control from almost the very start of the game. Denver shot 35 percent (34 for 98) from the field and was hurt by a 57-42 rebounding deficit.
Bledsoe didn’t play in the fourth quarter and finished three points off his season high. Mirza Teletovic had 11 points and nine boards, and Brandon Knight and Archie Goodwin each scored 10 points.
The Suns made just two of their first 10 shots, but rallied with a 17-0 run and led 27-13 when the quarter was over.
Goodwin came off the bench and made a difficult shot with 2:30 left. He cut down the lane and took a pass from Jon Leuer while being shoved by Denver’s Randy Foye and threw the ball into the basket as he fell out of bounds, giving Phoenix a 22-9 lead.
Denver’s 13 points was its lowest total in a quarter during any game this season.
Leuer made his first start of the season, replacing Markieff Morris. The forward sat out with a left knee sprain.
The Suns closed out the first half on a 14-0 run for a commanding 60-28 lead at the break. The run was punctuated by P.J. Tucker’s lob to Chandler for a dunk with 0.5 seconds left.
Denver forward Kenneth Faried did not return after halftime due to back spasms and finished with two points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes.
Nuggets: F Joffrey Lauvergne did not play due to a lower back strain, though he is close to returning, coach Michael Malone said. Malone had Lauvergne, a native of France, check in with his family Friday night in the wake of the shootings in Paris. Lauvergne has missed the last seven games.
Suns: G Ronnie Price was sidelined by a concussion. … Morris’ streak of 171 consecutive games played, the sixth-longest active streak in the NBA before Saturday, came to an end. … F Cory Jefferson scored his first two points as a Sun in the fourth quarter.
