DENVER — Guard Brandon Knight had 19 points, guard Eric Bledsoe scored 18 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 110-96 on Wednesday night.
Forward Gerald Green had 15 points off the bench for the Suns, who ended a five-game losing streak. Phoenix won on the road for the first time in seven weeks.
Phoenix (30-28) kept its fading playoff hopes alive with its first win since before the All-Star break. The Suns trail Oklahoma City by two-and-a-half games for the eighth spot in the Western Conference and can get closer when they host the Thunder Thursday night.
Forward Will Barton scored a season-high 22 points and forward Danilo Gallinari had 20 points for the Nuggets. Denver has lost eight straight at home and 18 of 20 overall.
The Nuggets, who haven’t won at home since Jan. 14, were already shorthanded when forward Darrell Arthur was injured just 3:01 into the game. Things got worse when rookie center Jusuf Nurkic got tangled up on the defense end and suffered an injury to his lower right leg with 9:29 left in the game. He was helped off the court and then wheeled to the locker room in obvious pain.
The injuries took their toll, especially on the glass. Phoenix outrebounded Denver 65-40, the Suns’ high rebounding total of the season.
The Suns built a nine-point lead in the first half, saw Denver cut it to 67-66 on Nurkic’s layup with 7 minutes left in the third and then went on a 12-0 run to take an 83-69 lead late in the quarter.
Gallinari tried to keep the Nuggets in it with another strong offensive game but the lack of offense from leading scorer, guard Ty Lawson, doomed Denver to another home loss.
The Nuggets were within 10 at the start of the fourth but Phoenix built a 15-point lead early in the period.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Gallinari and Lawson and two free throws from forward Joffrey Lauvergne got Denver within 91-85 with 7:17 remaining. Phoenix responded with a 10-2 run to push the lead back to 14 with 4:49 left.
NOTES: Nuggets F Wilson Chandler did not play because of a groin injury, and F Kenneth Faried was out with a bruised left thumb. Faried was hurt in the first half of Monday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets but played in the second half. … The Suns turned over nearly half their roster from opening night. Seven of the 15 players from Oct. 29 either were traded or waived. … The Nuggets are on pace for their worst record in 12 years. They were 17-65 in 2002-03 before reaching the playoffs the next 10 seasons. … Entering Wednesday, Suns C Alex Len was averaging 9.7 points, 11 rebounds and 4.3 blocks over his previous three games.