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Green, Suns cool off Nuggets

Nov 27, 2014 - 6:37 AM Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Gerald Green scored 24 points off the bench and the Phoenix Suns defeated the Denver Nuggets, 120-112, on Wednesday.

Eric Bledsoe deposited 21 points with 10 assists, Goran Dragic scored 20 and Markieff Morris totaled 15 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Suns, who have won five of their last six.

Wilson Chandler led the Nuggets with 19 points, while Timofey Mozgov and Arron Afflalo each contributed 18 points, with Mozgov pulling down 13 rebounds in the setback.

Denver had its five-game winning streak snapped.

"The pace was fine for us, scoring over 100 points," said Afflalo. "But you can't turn around and give the same amount up."

With the game knotted up at 64-64 at halftime, Phoenix opened the third on a 14-4 run. Dragic scored the first five points of the run, then capped it with a layup with 7:06 left in the quarter.

"There was a stretch there in the third quarter where we played pretty good defense, then we made some shots," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said.

Green's 3-pointer made it 85-74 minutes later, but Denver countered with eight straight to cut the deficit to three. However, Green knocked down a pair of 3s over the final 1 1/2 minutes to help the Suns take a 93-86 lead into the fourth.

Phoenix slowly built its advantage back to double digits in the final frame, with Green scoring seven straight points to give the hosts a 110-94 edge. Green hit a falling-away 3 before punctuating his little run with a thunderous alley-oop slam that lifted the Suns' faithful to their feet.

The Suns took their foot off the gas over the final six minutes of play, but their lead held up to snap the Nuggets winning streak.

Although Phoenix jumped out to a quick lead in the first, the Nuggets took advantage on a 14-4 run that gave them a 14-9 lead. The Suns regained control later in the frame on an 11-0 run and they had a 34-30 lead entering the second.

There were seven lead changes and three ties in the second quarter as the two teams headed into the locker room all tied up.

Game Notes

Denver has lost 16 of its last 19 trips to Phoenix ... Marcus Morris had 14 points while Alex Len and PJ Tucker chipped in with 10 points apiece off the bench for the Suns ... Phoenix made 52 percent of its 3-pointers and limited the Nuggets to 32 percent from beyond the arc.