Sports Writing (USA), May 7 (EFE).- Nikola Jokic signed a majestic performance with 53 points (his NBA scoring record) but the Denver Nuggets wasted this recital of their star and fell this Sunday against the Phoenix Suns (129-124), who thus tied this West semifinal 2-2.
The MVP winner in 2021 and 2022 dazzled with a whopping 20 of 30 shooting and also added 11 assists.
However, the Nuggets were unable to accompany Jokic, who only had consistent support from Jamal Murray (28 points and 7 assists).
After his 47 points in Game 3, Devin Booker once again showed an extraordinary level and got 36 points (with a huge 14 of 18 shooting), 6 rebounds and 12 assists for the Suns still without the injured Chris Paul.
Kevin Durant also shone with 36 points (11 of 19 shooting), 11 rebounds and 6 assists, but the best news for the Suns in this fierce duel of incendiary attacks and invisible defenses was that his wardrobe, one of the weak points of this project, responded more than enough in this fourth duel.
Thus, the Phoenix bench, led by Landry Shamet (19 points and 5 triples), contributed 40 points while the Denver bench, a priori a more choral and balanced team, only got 11 in total.
JOKIC AGAINST THE WORLD
The Suns did not hide their cards from the start: the longer the ball was in the hands of Booker and Durant, the better for the interests of the locals.
The Nuggets, with more physique and muscle than the Suns, had a 9-point lead in the first quarter, but Booker with 13 points and Durant with 11 -including a basket at the buzzer- warmed up the wrist very quickly to the delight of Phoenix fans.
After the 32-34 with which the first period closed, the Suns exploited two obvious weaknesses of the Nuggets: an overly contemplative defense -coach Mike Malone was furious on the sideline- and Jokic’s rest minutes.
The Serbian genius left the field with a 24-30 lead in the first quarter and when he returned in the second period he found his team behind 43-41.
Like someone who suddenly realizes that he has homework to do, Jokic began to pull tricks out of his hat and scored 11 points in a row as soon as he stepped on the track.
The pivot also starred in the strangest moment of the match.
A fumble ended up out of bounds and into the hands of Suns owner Mat Ishbia. Jokic approached the first row to catch the ball and get it out as soon as possible, but Ishbia held it, so the Serb, with a puzzled gesture, pushed the owner of Phoenix slightly with his elbow – who exaggerated before sitting down on the chair without problems- and a spectator did the same with Jokic while other fans dedicated shouts to the reference of Denver.
Without this incident with some tension reaching majors, Jokic took a technical foul and the spectator was expelled from the stadium.
Apart from that friction, the second period stood out for a very showy duel of stars on both teams, Durant with 10 points in that quarter and Jokic with 15, to close the first part practically in a draw (63-61).
The fireworks continued after the break.
An exquisite Jokic added 18 points in that period alone while a perfect Booker (6 of 6 shooting) exploded with 17 points in the same quarter.
With the defenses on vacation in both teams, the Nuggets entered dangerous territory and priori favorable to the Suns by accepting the tricky challenge of seeing which of the two attacks was the most powerful when the rival team had two scoring machines like Booker and Durant.
Jokic and Booker took a breather at the start of the fourth quarter with the score at 98-92 and in that stretch an unexpected guest emerged: a wonderful Shamet who made four three-pointers without a miss (116-106 with 4.56 to go).
The Nuggets did not give up and with Murray supporting Jokic they stood at only 3 points (121-118) and still with 1.44 on the clock.
However, Denver, still at -3, lost a jumper between two with 23 seconds left (with a possible foul by Deandre Ayton), Jokic missed an apparently easy layup at -5 and the Suns sealed their victory on free throws.
