NBA highlights on March 5: Durant dominates Nuggets in overtime

The Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 117-107 in overtime (OT) at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, on Tuesday, ending the opponents' six-game winning streak.

The Suns led by as many as 22 points (77-55) in the third quarter but struggled for a long time on both ends of the game. Offensively, their two ace scorers, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, went 6-for-26 from the field in the third and fourth quarters. Defensively, the team's starting center, Jusuf Nurkic, committed his fifth and sixth personal fouls in the third and fourth periods, respectively. He had to sit on the bench for most of the time in the fourth quarter and was fouled out soon after he came back.

As a result, the Suns were outscored by the Nuggets 52-37 in these two quarters. If Jokic hadn't missed his floater in the final four seconds, Tuesday's game wouldn't have entered the OT in the first place.

The narrow escape in the fourth period aside, the Suns were fortunate to watch both Durant and Beal warm up with their shooting touch at the end of this quarter. Both made one 3-pointer, not to mention that Durant's shot tied the score at 105 to drag the game into the OT. Their form continued to improve during the extra five minutes of competition. The two combined to go 5-for-5 in field goals (FGs) to get 13 of their side's 15 points, leading the team to secure the key victory to stay within the top six in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets had only themselves to blame for Tuesday's loss. They led 32-28 in the first quarter but soon fell into a six-minute-long FG drought in the second period, during which the team also committed four turnovers. Three of them were by Jokic. He struggled badly in front of Nurkic. Moreover, his finishing touch, especially next to the hoop, was surprisingly bad in the game, causing him to miss many shots that he should have made on usual days.

While the Nuggets were passing and shooting poorly in the second quarter, Grayson Allen exploded outside the 3-point line to place the Suns on a double-digit lead. As one of the best-performing shooters in the first half of the 2023-24 season, he missed 18 of his 24 triples in the three games before Tuesday.

However, Allen found his touch again against the Nuggets. All of his first eight attempts from downtown fell into the basket. He also contributed three steals. He and Drew Eubanks became two of the biggest surprise contributors for the Suns on Tuesday night. Eubanks played as the first backup for Nurkic, getting 10 points and eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass. More importantly, he kept the Nuggets from having their way in the Suns' paint when Nurkic took a break on the bench.

Other games on Tuesday (away teams come first):

Boston Celtics 104-105 Cleveland Cavaliers

When Jayson Tatum made a putback bucket at 9:04 in the fourth quarter to extend the Celtics' lead to 22 points (93-71), he didn't realize that it would be the only shot he made in the second half and his side would blow such a seemingly unshakable lead to end their 11-game winning streak at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Cavaliers had to host the Celtics on Tuesday with an incomplete lineup that lacked Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus. They took another hit in the third quarter as Evan Mobley injured his left ankle when he landed on the floor after a dunk.

When the situation couldn't look any darker in the final period, Dean Wade stepped out to save the day. He shot 7-for-7, including making all five 3-pointers, to get 20 points in this quarter, outscoring the whole team of the Celtics by three points. The visiting team missed 17 of their 25 FG attempts in the fourth period, including all nine shots outside the paint. Seven of those bricks came from Tatum, who went 1-for-11 from the field in the second half.

Indiana Pacers 137-120 Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic had good reasons to smash a bottle of water to the floor at the end of the third quarter in the game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday. He dropped a triple-double of 39 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists at a 50-percent FG rate, like he did in the previous three games. Nonetheless, his side suffered the third loss out of the four games.

The Pacers used a 10-player rotation against the Mavericks, and eight of them reached double-digit points. Tyrese Haliburton had a double-double of 19 points and 11 assists, running their game in such a smooth way that the Pacers shot 53.8 percent of their 137 points from the field.

Orlando Magic 101-89 Charlotte Hornets

Philadelphia 76ers 107-112 Brooklyn Nets

Detroit Pistons 110-118 Miami Heat

Atlanta Hawks 116-100 New York Knicks

New Orleans Pelicans 139-98 Toronto Raptors

San Antonio Spurs 101-114 Houston Rockets