Jamal Murray leads Nuggets to NBA Cup group stage win over Suns

Bennett Durando, The Denver Post on Oct 31, 2026

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PHOENIX — As bright and intense as the Phoenix Suns’ orange court was, Jamal Murray shone even brighter.

Murray scored 37 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-9 from deep, and the Nuggets opened NBA Cup play with a 127-120 win Friday night in Phoenix. Their next group stage game is Nov. 20 against the Rockets, who lost their opener to Dallas on Friday.

Christian Braun contributed a career-best 31 points and three steals to help Denver complete a perfect two-game road trip. Nikola Jokic amassed 18 points, seven rebounds and 10 assists. His plus-minus (four points in the black) was the lowest among Denver’s starters, including Cam Johnson, who returned to face his former team after missing three games with an ankle injury.

If an NBA game can channel the chaotic vibes of “Pac 12 After Dark” ESPN football programming, this was that game. At times, it moved at a dizzying pace. For a while, it was on pace to finish in the 140s. Percentages were rendered meaningless. Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks was the best player on the court until he “overtly kicked Murray in the groin,” in the words of crew chief Tyler Ford, earning an ejection early in the third quarter.

Braun capped off his 11-for-16 night with a dagger 3-pointer. It gave the Nuggets (3-2, 1-0 NBA Cup) a 121-110 lead with 2:15 to go, sending fans for the exits at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Denver overcame a clunky night from its bench. David Adelman used a nine-man rotation. His four reserves combined for 12 points. Trevon Brazile was his seventh-most used player, logging 19 minutes. Alpha Diallo remained out, but he was officially listed as absent for personal reasons instead of a wrist injury. Adelman said the wing had been away from the team in recent days, but he flew into Phoenix to rejoin Friday.

The first half was a jaw-dropping display of scoring from unlikely sources. The Nuggets have a major problem with giving up 3s, but they also had to tip their cap to Brooks, who got hot early, then started frying them with difficult off-the-dribble shot-making. His 20 first-half points were compiled on an 8-for-10 clip from the field. He entered the game shooting 37.8%.

Somehow, Braun outdid him. He was off to a 5-for-21 start to the season from 3-point range, ice-cold until a flurry late in the fourth quarter Wednesday at New Orleans. The Suns were willing to live with his spot-up 3s. They ended up dying by them. By halftime, he had a new career-high for 3s in a single game with six — on as many tries.

Denver and Phoenix had been ranked 19th and 20th respectively in 3-point percentage. They were 25-for-43 combined at the break.

Johnson was ironically the most frigid shooter on the floor as the madness unfolded. But his reintroduction to the lineup nonetheless provided instant breathing room. Off the ball, he was aggressive in pulling the trigger. On the ball, he was aggressive as a playmaker out of dribble handoffs. His night ended with 12 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds.

Murray took the torch from Braun after halftime. He scored 14 of Denver’s first 24 points in the third quarter, a heat check that could’ve been even more scorching if he didn’t miss three free throws. It might’ve been that his equilibrium was thrown off by Brooks, who was rising up for a jump shot when he needlessly kicked a contesting Murray between the legs. The Nuggets guard was shaken up for a few minutes during and after the official review of the play, bending over and wincing.

The grimace was eventually replaced by a laugh. Then a mean mug, after getting fouled as he knocked down a deep three.

In three of Denver’s first four games, Adelman shortened the leash for backup point guard Tyus Jones in the second half. The veteran has played a short stint to finish the third quarter alongside Jokic, then Adelman has reluctantly gone to Murray for the non-Jokic minutes at the beginning of the fourth. Murray was leading the league with 38.5 minutes per game entering Friday’s game — an arrangement that Adelman acknowledged is “probably not” sustainable.

“But you have to win games,” he said. “If we’re out of the playoffs but Jamal played 32 minutes a game, that’s not worth it. So it’s felt like I’ve had to do it, just to balance out the second unit. I’d like to get him and Tyus together at certain points. … We’ll definitely have those conversations to protect him.”

Adelman tried to protect him in Phoenix. Murray sat to start the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead. The Nuggets went scoreless for two minutes, even with Johnson and Aaron Gordon staggering. The lead was sliced in half. Out went Jones. In went Murray. The All-NBA guard immediately buried another 3-pointer to stop the bleeding.