The Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns are rivals, as the Suns swept the Nuggets back in the 2021 playoffs, while Denver beat Phoenix in six games in the most recent playoffs. The rivalry is strong, and it makes sense. Both teams are powerhouses in the Western Conference, and the two have a chance to meet again in the playoffs next April.
The NBA’s preseason is up and underway, as a good amount of teams have already played one preseason game. The Phoenix Suns faced off against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night and came out victorious in overtime.
The big three of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal were all out and playing well in their first actual game together, and looked to be an offensive juggernaut when all three were on the court. It was only one preseason game, but even so, their offensive firepower with those three players is phenomenal.
Their defense, though, was not the best. Sure, it was a preseason game at the end of the day, but giving up 122 points in regulation to a Pistons team that isn’t looking to compete for a title right now is a bit worrying. Josh Okogie is the only player in Phoenix’s starting lineup who is known as a good defender.
The Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns will be going head-to-head on Tuesday night. This will be their first meeting of the year, which will surely be a bit of a heated matchup considering both of their rivalries with each other.
As for the Denver Nuggets, this will be their first preseason game this season, and Denver will be in Phoenix for this game. Even though it is a preseason game, there will be plenty of fans in the arena, which will mean that Denver will have a lot of people cheering against them. This is nothing Denver’s new to, as they won a lot of playoff games in their opponent’s arenas.
Preseason games do not matter that much. Sure, getting a win is nice and it is good to build chemistry, but once the regular season starts, preseason basketball is over and is irrelevant.
A lot of teams do not play their best player a ton of minutes during the preseason. Looking at Phoenix, they only played Devin Booker for 15 minutes, which was the most out of their big three. A lot of minutes are usually allocated to the bench, which gives teams an idea of who to play on the bench and who to give standard contracts to if they’re not on one already.
For the Denver Nuggets, the regular players should be in the starting lineup barring any injury. But at maximum, they will probably only play 20 minutes at the most. A lot of minutes could be given to players like Julian Strawther, Hunter Tyson, Collin Gillespie, and Zeke Nnaji, who will be a restricted free agent this offseason and he might not be on the roster for the long term.
All in all, the preseason is a good way to get the season started, and it’s exciting to see the players who usually do not get normal rotational minutes in the regular season. The game between the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns should surely be an entertaining one to watch.
It’s nice to have Denver basketball back in business, as the last time we saw them play an actual game was back in the NBA Finals.