Jamal Murray scores 34, Nuggets beat Suns 125-107 in Game 1

DENVER (AP)— Jamal Murray kept imploring the crowd to get louder and louderwith each trip down the floor.

As if theNuggets point guard even needed to. His play was already rockingthe arena.

Murrayscored 34 points, hitting six of Denver’s 16 3-pointers, and theNuggets sprinted past the Phoenix Suns 125-107 on Saturday night inGame 1 of their second-round series.

“He’s a badman,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

Anyresponse to that adulation?

“Thanks?”Murray said. “Appreciate it. ... I’m just playing my game. ... I’mdoing whatever it takes to win.”

And maybeshow a nation that doesn’t always get to watch the Nuggets — youknow, because they’re usually on so late — what the players haveknown all season: They’re talented and worthy of their top seed inthe Western Conference. They don’t mind if the Suns, as the fourthseed, are the trendy pick to beat them, either.

“We’regoing to keep doing what we’re doing, keep proving everybodywrong,” Murray said.

Reigningback-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 19 rebounds,while Aaron Gordon finished with 23 points. But this was the MurrayShow, where he went 6 of 10 from 3-point land and frequentlyexhorted for more noise from the already raucous crowd.

“Let’s behonest, some of the shots he hit tonight I don’t think anybodycould have stopped him,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.

KevinDurant scored 29 points and grabbed 14 boards for the Suns, withDevin Booker adding 27 points and Chris Paul 11. Booker averaged37.2 points in a first-round series win over the Los AngelesClippers.

“I thoughtthat they were just more physical, played with more force,”Williams said. “We’ve got to regroup and do a much better job ofplaying with pace on offense.”

Game 2 isMonday night in Denver.

This is adifferent sort of playoff series than two years ago, when the Sunsswept the Nuggets in the second round. Back then, Denver waswithout Murray after he tore his ACL.

Nowhealthy, Murray is flashing his 2020 form inside the NBA bubblethat helped Denver advance to the Western Conference finals.

“Jamal justcontinues to add to the legend of playoff Jamal,” Malone said.

Murray hadthe play of the night when he stole a pass, split defenders Pauland Durant at top speed and knocked in a layup high off the glass.It brought the capacity crowd to its feet.

The dynamicpoint guard was far from done energizing the fans, hitting a3-pointer with just under 7 minutes remaining. He implored them formore noise, even holding a hand to his ear.

Leading106-95 with 7:40 remaining, the Nuggets went on a 14-0 run to putaway the game. Denver led by as much as 25 and improved to 38-7 athome through the regular season and playoffs.

Durant cutoff a question about whether he was surprised by the Nuggets.

Becausehe’s not.

“They’rethe No. 1 seed for a reason. They got a two-time MVP. They’ve got adeep team. I’m not surprised,” Durant said. “We’ve got our work cutout for us.”

Thedifference was the 3-point line, where the Nuggets outscored theSuns by a 48-21 margin. That and turnovers, where the Suns had 16,including seven by Durant.

“I’ve gotto be way more careful with the ball,” Durant said. “I’ve to lookto either shoot the ball or make the correct pass. ... I dang gotnear half our turnovers. We’ll be fine. I think we’ve just got toplay with confidence, shoot with confidence and see what happensnext game.”

TIP-INS

Suns:Williams used his challenge early — with 55.4 seconds left in thefirst quarter — when Booker was called for a charge on a made abasket. It paid off as the call was overturned and Booker awarded afree throw, which he made. ... Deandre Ayton scored 14 points. ...Durant has 4,730 playoff points to move closer to passing KarlMalone (4,761) seventh place on the NBA’s postseason pointsleaderboard.

Nuggets:Malone called a timeout 32 seconds into the second half to settlehis team down. Malone said the conversation was simple: “Wake up,”he recounted. ... Bruce Brown had 14 points.

PAULPRAISE

As Paulapproaches his 38th birthday next week, Malone said the one thingthat hasn’t changed over the years is Paul’s elitecompetitiveness.

“He’ll be55 years old, playing in a rec league back in North Carolina, andhe’s going to be the same guy,” Malone said. “The guy hates tolose, ultra-competitive and one of the greatest leaders I’ve everbeen around. ... No matter what stage of his career, he still findsa way to impact winning at a high level.”