The Suns and Nuggets faced three times in the season’s first 16 games. They haven’t met since mid-January. Jamal Murray was healthy then. Michael Porter Jr. missed the first meeting and had just exited a COVID-19 quarantine before the final two. Aaron Gordon still had two more months in Orlando. Austin Rivers was in New York. The Nuggets were very different.
Phoenix wasn’t from a personnel perspective. The same starting lineup the Suns opened with against the Nuggets on Jan. 1 in Denver they will use in Game 1 of their NBA second-round playoff series on Monday night in Phoenix: Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Deandre Ayton. That’s their biggest advantage – health and stability. Murray is in the early stages of ACL rehab. Paul is managing a shoulder stinger that’s impacting his production. One is on the court, the other isn’t.
