Struggling Suns need wins, Nuggets next team in way

With five weeks left in the regular season, the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets are battling for playoff positioning. While Denver is jockeying for the second overall seed in the Western Conference, Phoenix is fighting for its postseason life.

The Suns sit outside the play-in tournament with 20 games left, and every one of those is an opportunity to gain ground, starting at the Nuggets on Friday night.

Phoenix won two of three games, the latest against the Los Angeles Clippers when they rallied from 23 down. The victory was overshadowed by star Kevin Durant exchanging heated words with coach Mike Budenholzer in front of the Suns bench during the game, which Durant downplayed after the fact.

"He allows me as a player on the team, a veteran on the team, to voice my opinion," Durant said postgame. "If we both didn't care, we would never have stuff like that. ... That shows that me and Bud really care about trying to right this ship and trying to win basketball games."

The 6-foot-11 power forward was instrumental in the comeback with 34 points, and Durant leads Phoenix in scoring at 26.9 points per game. Devin Booker is second (25.9 ppg) and Bradley Beal rounds out the top three (17.6).

Friday kicks off a critical four-game road trip against teams ahead of the Suns in the standings. It's also the last of four games between them and Denver, with the Nuggets winning two of the first three, including one at Phoenix on Feb. 8.

Durant missed that loss with an ankle injury, and the Suns missed his 25-point average over two appearances against Denver this season.

The Nuggets are banged up heading into the matchup. Reserve guard Julian Strawther will miss at least four weeks with a left knee sprain and Aaron Gordon has sat out the last three games with a left ankle sprain.

Denver did get Peyton Watson back from his right knee injury in the win over Sacramento on Wednesday night. He scored two points in 16 minutes in his first game since Jan. 31.

"It felt good to be back, felt good to go out there and help the team win the game," said Watson, who leads the team in blocks with 1.2 per game. "Definitely some rust to knock off. I am not one for excuses. I am here to help us get wins and help us win games. That is my role on this team. I want to be better on Friday."

The Nuggets got a boost from their bench in Wednesday's win and a big lift from Russell Westbrook, who started in place of Gordon. He had 25 points and is averaging 12.9 points a game, tied with Gordon for fifth, and is also tied with Jamal Murray for second in assists with 6.1 per game

Jokic leads the team in scoring (28.8 ppg), rebounds (12.8) and assists (10.4) -- placing him in the NBA's top three in each category. Murray is second in scoring at 21.4 points a game and Michael Porter Jr. is averaging 18.4 points.

--Field Level Media