On the East Coast, it was after midnight when the Nuggets were given a new beginning. They failed to capitalise on it.

The Nuggets ended a six-game winning streak at Ball Arena when they defeated the Suns 117-107 after rallying from a 22-point deficit in the second half to force overtime. The Nuggets went back to their second quarter form, turning the ball over twice to start overtime and never getting back after Kevin Durant snapped his scoring slump with a flurry of points in the extra frame.

With 3:54 remaining, Denver (42-20) was down 99-90 after Bradley Beal converted an open three-pointer around a ball screen. Then, for a late 100-99 lead, the Nuggets went on a 12-0 run that was capped by a transition 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. With 26 seconds remaining, Durant matched the score with a step-back three, and with the clock running out, Nikola Jokic was unable to make a contested baseline runner.

Jokic’s streak of scorching stat lines since the All-Star break was halted by Jusuf Nurkic and company, an old buddy. Jokic was only able to score 25 points on 8 of 18 shots and seven turnovers against the Suns. Durant, on the other hand, struggled for the duration of the evening to get his jumper to fall. To get to 35 points, 34 tries were required.

The offence struggled mightily the whole game, but in the second quarter it went six minutes without scoring a field goal. After the game had been fairly contested up until that time, Phoenix went on a 19-1 run to blast it open. Throughout the quarter, the Nuggets were outscored 37–18.

Grayson Allen, the NBA leader in 3-point percentage this season, was able to make his first eight 3-pointers thanks to Murray and Denver’s defence, in a remarkable heat-check performance that surpassed Michael Porter Jr.’s perfect game on Saturday in Los Angeles. Allen was left with clean looks far too frequently, thus the first four of his makes came in the first quarter. He got into a rhythm.

Even as the Nuggets returned from their locker room hoping to conjure more of their recent comeback magic, the Suns by the second half were intent on keeping him hot in order to stop any momentum before Denver could capture it. Allen scored three additional points on the first possession following the interval. After he made another, the lead increased to 22.

But then the Nuggets began to lessen the Suns’ lead. Their defence remained strong for over two minutes without a field goal, despite yet another run of careless possessions marked by turnovers. Drawing Nurkic’s fourth and fifth fouls was their greatest offensive strategy for taking him out of the game. It was down to nine at the end of the third inning with no noteworthy runs.

More of the same at the beginning of the fourth. Denver’s backup team was unable to score. However, it could defend. On successive possessions, Peyton Watson stopped a shot, including an effort by Allen to dunk. Murray’s badly executed fast break, in which he passed the ball to no one and out of bounds for an unforced mistake, came between the swats. Porter finally hit a catch-and-shoot three from Watson after four minutes of back-and-forth, making the score 94-88. Arizona required a break.

Once the starters returned, both sides unleashed another wild tirade of wide-open threes that were missed.