The basketball was loose, a wild scramble ensued and big bodies hit the deck. Guard Bones Hyland finally came away with the ball and cooly drained a 29-foot 3-pointer. The crowd erupted.
Nuggets 44, Suns 30, early in the second quarter. The romp was on.
“I loved that play,” coach Michael Malone said. “When you have effort plays like that, those are winning plays, those are game-changing plays. That was one of my favorite plays of the night.”
The final: Nuggets 126, Suns 97. Hyland sparked the victory with 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting, including 5 of 7 from behind the arc.