New-look Suns brace for tough task vs. Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns won their season opener Wednesday night to give Jordan Ott his first NBA head coaching victory.

It may be tough for him to get his second win on Saturday night when his team visits the Denver Nuggets.

The Suns will be playing the second game of a back-to-back. They fell 129-102 at the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night in their first road game of the season.

Phoenix revamped its roster in the offseason by shipping Kevin Durant and Clint Capela to Houston for several players, including Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks.

Brooks is averaging 21.5 points in the first two games of the season, but Green has yet to play due to a low-grade hamstring strain.

Green sustained the injury during training camp and aggravated it during the team's trip to China for two exhibition games this month. He already has been ruled out for Saturday night as he rehabs the injury.

"He's still working through it," Ott said. "I would say by the end of the road trip, there will be more (of an update), but at this point, definitely nothing this weekend."

Phoenix still has weapons, most notably Devin Booker, who scored 31 points in the season-opening win against Sacramento and added 18 against the Clippers.

Phoenix's Grayson Allen is off to a solid start, following an 18-point performance on Wednesday night with 12 on Friday.

The tired Suns will face a Nuggets team that retooled its roster over the summer to make another run at the NBA title. They unveiled their new look at Golden State on Thursday night but lost in overtime despite a career-high 50 points from Aaron Gordon.

Denver failed to hold a 14-point lead and wasted a triple-double by three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.

It was the Nuggets debut for Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cam Johnson as well Bruce Brown's return to Denver. The bolstered reserve unit contributed, but Johnson struggled in his 32 minutes, finishing with a minus-17 rating.

Gordon made 10 of 11 shots from behind the arc and hit his first eight 3-pointers. He showed he is ready for the season after an injury-plagued 2024-25 that cost him 31 games.

Point guard Jamal Murray, who has started slowly in prior seasons, looked in midseason form with 25 points and 10 assists on Thursday.

Murray spent the summer organizing pickup games for most of his teammates and making sure he was healthy from the start. He struggled last year after dealing with lingering injuries from the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The past summer was his longest stretch since his return from a torn ACL, and it allowed him to get mentally ready for opening night.

"I'm just focused on having a great November," he said.

Saturday night will be the Nuggets' home opener, and there is belief this is their best squad since the team won the NBA title in 2022-23. The addition of Valanciunas, Hardaway and Brown will allow first-year head coach David Adelman to give his starters, most importantly Jokic, more rest.

--Field Level Media