Bahamian center DeAndre Ayton and the Phoenix Suns appeared to be on the verge of stealing a game against the top-seeded Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals of the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs, but they ran out of steam in the final quarter of game two, losing 97-87 on Monday night. The win put the Suns down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series.

Ayton scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 33 minutes of play at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. He made a blistering 7-for-10 shots from the field, but battled foul trouble for most of the third quarter and into the fourth. He finished the game with five fouls.

The Nuggets outscored the Suns 27-14 in the fourth quarter to defend their home court and maintain the homecourt advantage.

The Suns went into the fourth quarter with a 73-70 lead, and without one of their leaders, Chris Paul, who left the game in the third quarter with a groin injury. That lead withered away at the start of the fourth quarter as the Nuggets opened that quarter on an 8-0 scoring run that ended at the 8:24 mark. They led 78-73 at that point in the game.

Ayton made a slam dunk at the 4:56 mark in that quarter to bring them to within three points, 84-81. That three-point lead quickly stretched into a 10-point lead as the Nuggets went on a 7-0 run to lead 91-81 with a little over two minutes left in the game. The Suns could not cut into that deficit as the Nuggets made their free throw shots down the stretch to seal the win.

The Suns were led by guard Devin Booker with 35 points. Ayton's matchup counterpart Nikola Jokic came away with a game-high 39 points.

The Bahamian missed his first shot of the game in the first quarter but was able to end the quarter making his next three field goals to finish that quarter with six points. The Suns led after that opening period, 21-18. Ayton ended the first half with 10 points and six rebounds and was the Suns' second leading scorer in the first half.

Playing against Jokic, one of the candidates for the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP), has Ayton working hard in this series. Ayton is averaging 14 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and shooting 66.7 percent in the two games. He is a key part of giving his Suns a better chance at winning and will look to make an impact in the third game.

The series swings home for Ayton and the Suns as they head to the Footprint Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, for a pivotal game three on Friday. They will look to avoid going down 0-3. The third game of the series starts at 10 p.m. on Friday and will be televised on ESPN.

The post Ayton, Suns in 0-2 hole appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Ayton, Suns in 0-2 hole appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

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