Suns end Nuggets’ winning streak

PHOENIX — Missing newcomer and leading scorer Isaiah Thomas and playing the up-tempo Denver Nuggets, the Phoenix Suns took a step back in time and used the successful formula from last season to race to another win.

Guard Gerald Green scored 24 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and point guards Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic combined for 41 points and 14 assists as the Suns used the run and gun to snap the Nuggets’ five-game winning streak with a 120-112 win Wednesday.

“If felt a little like last year, the way we were pushing the ball, the fast breaks and whoever was open was jacking it up,” said forward P.J. Tucker, who had two of Phoenix’s 13 3-pointers and 10 points. “We miss Isaiah and he makes us a deeper team, but it was a little reminiscing there.”

Bledsoe shook off a third-quarter injury to add 21 points and 10 assists and backcourt partner Goran Dragic had 20 points and four assists for the Suns (10-6), who returned from a 4-1 Eastern road trip and kept the momentum going without Thomas (right ankle contusion).

The teams will meet in a rematch in Denver on Friday, with the Suns seeking their sixth straight win over the Nuggets.

The teams combined for 48 fastbreak points, 25 by Denver, and the game was tied at 64 at the half. But the Nuggets shot 36 percent in the second half and couldn’t keep pace. Markieff Morris had a strong all-around game with 15 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists.

“That’s how they like to play and that’s how we want to play,” Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. “I’m not sure if there was a whole lot of defense in the first half. We had a little stretch there in the third quarter when we played pretty good defense and that’s what got us the lead.”

Forward Wilson Chandler led Denver (7-8) with 19 points and center Timofey Mozgov and guard Arron Afflalo had 18 points each. Guard Ty Lawson added 17 points and 12 assists for the Nuggets, who had won six of seven since starting the season 1-6.

Denver has allowed an average of 115 points in their eight losses, and defense was again a problem against the hot-shooting Suns, who made 13 of 25 3-pointers (6 of 11 by Green). The Nuggets lost Danilo Gallinari to a left knee injury in the first half that hurt in the fast-paced game on a back-to-back.

“I don’t feel like we really took anything away,” Denver coach Brian Shaw said. “We talked about taking away the paint but they still got in the paint (44 points) and they hit 3s on us.

“Green’s just been a Nugget killer. All last season and this season to this point, it’s just like he has a target on us every time we play him.”

The Suns took a 93-86 lead to the fourth quarter and put the game away from long distance. Tucker and Bledsoe hit 3-pointers before Green took over. First was a soaring reverse baseline dunk off an inbounds pass from Tucker with one second left on the shot clock. Then he hit a 3-pointer before throwing down Bledsoe’s alley-oop pass to extend the Phoenix lead to 110-94 with 6:46 left.

Denver got as close as six at 118-112 on Chandler’s 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds left, but Dragic iced the game with a fast-break layup.

“I told him, ‘Gerald, you’re like you’re in a video game,’ ” Dragic said of Green. “This is my second season with Gerald, and every time he makes some play I say, ‘Man, it that even possible?’ The dunk on the baseline and those 3s at the end of the shot clock were huge.”

The first half featured 128 points but neither side led by more than eight points. The Suns opened the second half with a 14-4 run and took their biggest lead at 85-74 on a 3-pointer by Green with 4:25 left. Green and Dragic scored nine points each in the quarter.

There was concern for the Suns when Bledsoe landed hard on his left hip on a drive to the basket and limped off to the dressing room with 4:37 left. But he returned for the start of the fourth quarter and helped the Suns close out the game.

“I think it was how he fell and I think he fell on it twice,” Hornacek said. “I don’t know if it was his hip or his butt. But he’s tough and I think he’ll get ice and treatment and be ready to go.”

NOTES: Coach Jeff Hornacek said he expects Isaiah Thomas to play in Denver on Friday. … The Suns lead the NBA with 83 percent shooting from the free-throw line and made 17 of 21 (81 percent) on Wednesday. … Denver had averaged 10.7 3-pointers over the past seven games, going 6-1 in that span to offset a 1-6 start. The Nuggets were 8 for 25 against Phoenix. … The Suns came into the game with five players averaging between 14.1 points (Gerald Green and Goran Dragic) and 15.5 points (Isaiah Thomas). In between were Eric Bledsoe (14.2) and Markieff Morris (15.1). “It’s good to have balance,” Hornacek said. “Who are they going to focus on? It would be nice to have one go-to guy that, when you need a bucket, he scores 90 percent of the time. But we’ve got a couple of guys who are making strides toward that.”