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Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant will be suiting up against the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 on Friday. The game tips off at 10:00 p.m. ET. The Nuggets travel to Phoenix after winning the first two games at home. The Suns are -4.5 point favorites at home.
Kevin Durant has been somewhat quiet in the series against Denver. Durant scored less than 30 in both games and may be due for a game where he takes over. He has struggled from the 3-point range in the series, going 3 of 15.
Previewing Game 3 of Nuggets vs. Suns
The Suns will be without point guard Chris Paul. Phoenix is 12-11 without Paul this season. Paul has had plenty of injury history in the playoffs before. Paul may be out until, at least, Game 5 of the series.
If Durant plays another quiet game, the Suns will need some big output from Devin Booker. He has averaged 35.4 points and 6.6 assists per game in his last 10 outings. Booker will also need to take over some of the playmaking duties and will likely have the ball a lot earlier in possessions since the Suns will be without Paul.
The Suns will also need to improve defensively. They have had trouble, like most teams, in slowing down Nikola Jokic. The big man has been playing at his highest level and seems to have favorable matchups against the Suns frontcourt.
Phoenix has had trouble slowing down the Nuggets' pick-and-rolls. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has also played well against the Suns defense.
Murray scored 34 points in Game 1 against the Suns. He made six of his 10 threes in the game. He has 30+ points in three of his seven playoff games this year.
The Nuggets will try to keep up their defensive performance against the Suns in Game 3. The Suns average 113.6 points per game against Western Conference teams. The Nuggets have held Phoenix to less than 108 points in both games.
The Suns are favored at home, but the Nuggets have been the better team on both ends so far in the series. It will be interesting to see how the Suns offense flows without Paul.
