Rookie Ryan Dunn led a short-handed Phoenix Suns team to an impressive 118-114 road victory over the Denver Nuggets Sunday night, as Phoenix improved to 3-1 in the preseason.
Phoenix decided to rest Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Tyus Jones with tonight being its fourth preseason game in eight days. Devin Booker (right ankle soreness), Jusuf Nurkić (left middle finger), Grayson Allen (Achilles soreness) and Josh Okogie (hamstring tightness) were already out due to various injuries.
With these players sidelined, Phoenix started Monté Morris, Dunn, Royce O’Neale, Bol Bol and Mason Plumlee.
This was the second-straight start for Dunn, the No. 28 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft out of Virginia, and he finished tied with a team-high 20 points, shooting 7-for-15 from the floor and 6-for-11 from 3, also recording four rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals in 30 minutes. Dunn, a defensive standout who fell in the draft because of his lack of ability to shoot at Virginia, excited everyone with how pure his shot looked tonight.
“Made my first shot, so that felt good to get it going,” said Dunn, who is now 12-for-27 from 3 in the four preseason games, on Arizona’s Family postgame. “Just kept doing my role, playing defense, trying to get stops and trying to get open shots. My mindset going into this year, if I start or come off the bench, whether I miss or make, (is) just keep competing and doing my role.”
Ryan Dunn made 7 3-pointers in 34 games last season at Virginia. He just finished 6-for-11 from 3 and was tied for a team-high 20 points after hitting a game-sealing corner 3 to give the #Suns a 118-111 lead. He also had 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steal
Dunn ended his night by hitting a dagger corner 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to put the Suns up seven.
The Nuggets, who had not played in a week before tonight, rolled out their projected regular-season starting lineup of Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokić.
Even so, Phoenix was able to come back down from as many as 13 points, as the Suns executed new coach Mike Budenholzer’s strategy of attempting 3-pointers to perfection, converting on 23-of-52 (44.2%) shots from deep a team. Phoenix only had one game last season when it attempted 50 or more 3-pointers, a 124-108 win against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 10, and never made 23 3-pointers in a game.
Morris, filling in as the starting point guard for Jones, also had 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-7 3-point shooting to go along with seven assists and two steals. Morris and O’Neale, who finished with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-for-6 from 3), four rebounds, four assists and two steals, helped spark a big third quarter that gave Phoenix the momentum to come back. Bol added 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting (4-for-6 from 3) and seven rebounds against his former team. The bench also chipped in 43 points, led by Collin Gillespie’s 12 points, six assists and four rebounds.
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