Nuggets stars, depth behind them spark Game 6 win, give Suns something to aim for

It was a complete game from Denver.

The Nuggets’ stars stepped up. Nikola Jokić had another efficient triple-double — 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting, with 12 assists and 10 rebounds. An ill Jamal Murray added 26 points. Beyond that, the Nuggets showed their depth and chemistry— Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21, Bruce Brown had 13 off the bench, Aaron Gordon played strong defense on Kevin Durant.

It’s the kind of chemistry that has the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.

“When we defend, when we rebound, when we run, when we share the ball, we believe we’re the best team in the NBA,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, via the Associated Press. “And tonight, we showed it.”

It’s the kind of depth and chemistry the Suns hope to have in future years.

This year, after trading their depth to land Kevin Durant, the Suns didn’t have what it took to match up with a complete Nuggets team. Denver blew the game open late in the first quarter and never looked back, cruising to a Game 6 win 125-100.

The Nuggets take the series 4-2 and advance to take on the winner of the Warriors vs. Lakers series in the Western Conference.

The Suns’ wins in this series came when their stars Durant and Devin Booker took over and scored more than 70 points combined. They were at half that number in Game 6. Durant finished with 23 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Booker — who had been one of the best players in the postseason up to this point — struggled with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

“It was a bad feeling,” Durant said. “It was embarrassing. They came out and got us in the mouth and we couldn’t recover.”

Cameron Payne — starting at the point in place of the injured Chris Paul — finished with a team-high 31. The Suns also were without