Sports Writing (USA), April 29 (EFE).- Canadian guard Jamal Murray led the Nuggets in Denver this Saturday with 34 points in a clear victory against the Phoenix Suns in the first game of the conference semi-final West (125-107).

After eliminating the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Nuggets, the first seeds in the West, became strong at home against the Suns who eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers in five games in the previous round.

Murray also contributed 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals, while Serbian center Nikola Jokic contributed a double-double of 24 points, 19 rebounds and 5 assists.

Aaron Gordon added 23 points and, coming off the bench, Bruce Brown added 14 points, while Michael Porter Jr added 11 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 10.

For the Suns, who have hit less than half the hat-tricks the Nuggets have, Kevin Durant had the double-double with 29 points, 14 rebounds, one assist, one steal and 3 blocks.

Devin Booker had 27 points, Bahamas center Deandre Ayton 14 and Chris Paul 11.

WEAK SUNS IN TRIPLE POINTS AND BOUNDS

Murray tied it at 11 with his second 3-pointer when he had 8 personal points at the start of the game and Porter dived to tie it at 13 before reaching the middle of the first quarter.

Jokic made his first field goal after 6 minutes, shortly after hitting two more in a row, and after a run from Gordon the Nuggets secured their first 5-point lead.

But 15 points from Durant and 8 from Booker, who also delivered 5 assists, in the first quarter, put the Suns back in front of the scoreboard at the end of the initial segment (31-32).

With both teams focused more on offense than defense, both teams took turns to take the lead on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but seconds after the halfway point of the segment , the Nuggets were 10 points ahead (51-41).

Durant’s 19 points, Booker’s 14 and Ayton’s 10 weren’t enough to prevent the Nuggets, with all their starters at 9 points or more, from taking 17 points at halftime (68-51) .

The Suns, who were just 27.3% on 3-pointers in the first series against the Clippers, tried to shoot Denver from long range in the first half 5 times, making 2. They tried 17 times of which they got 9.

The locals got more than twice as many rebounds in the first half as the visitors (32 against 15).

MURRAY’S BIG PARTY

Durant started to dare from long range, but for a triple that hit the opening minutes of the third quarter, Murray responded with a straight two.

Another hat-trick from Jokic, who also topped under the basket with 17 rebounds, defended a 15-point lead (86-71) with 4:38 minutes left in the third quarter.

Durant, Booker and Ayton continued to give their all, but without a reliable bench they seemed insufficient against the surge of the Nuggets, who reached the end of the third quarter with a 13-point lead (94-81).

Nothing came from Durant early in the final quarter as Murray got his 34 points on two more straight 3-pointers (6 of 10 attempts).

Two dunks within seconds of Brown brought Denver’s advantage to 23 points 5 minutes from the end of the match (118-95).

Without time or bench to react, the Suns succumbed to a clear advantage at home (125-107).