Game ID: 22500104
Phoenix Suns @ Denver Nuggets
Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 34 37 29 33 133PHX 28 26 29 28 111
DEN vs PHX ScoutingDEN vs PHX Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
DEN availability going into 10/23 · season opener
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/25 · 1 day's rest
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/27 · 1 day's rest
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/29 · 1 day's rest
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/31 · 1 day's rest
full strength
DEN availability going into 11/03 · 2 days' rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/22 · season opener
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/24 · 1 day's rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/25 · back-to-back
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/27 · 1 day's rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/29 · 1 day's restNEW Allen 28 to 35 min over the last 4
PHX availability going into 10/31 · 1 day's restOUT Brooks missed 2 since 10/27, out tonight
OUT Goodwin missed 2 since 10/27, returns tonight: 17 min (76% of 22)
OUT Fleming missed 2 since 10/27, returns tonight: 1 min (11% of 12)
NEW Allen 28 to 35 min over the last 5
NEW O'Neale 28 to 33 min over the last 5
PHX availability going into 11/02 · 1 day's restOUT Brooks missed 3 since 10/27, out tonight
BACK Goodwin back 10/31 after 2, 17 min since (76% of 22)
BACK Fleming back 10/31 after 2, 1 min since (11% of 12)
NEW Allen 28 to 34 min over the last 5
NEW O'Neale 28 to 34 min over the last 5
10/23 @ GSW 131-137 — DEN notes
DEN lost 131-137 in 1 overtime. DEN shot 54% (51 of 95) to GSW's 51%, 16 of 40 from three, and got to the line 14 times to GSW's 25. DEN turned it over 13 times to GSW's 8, and GSW turned those into 11 steals. Gordon led with 50 (17 of 21, 10 of 11 from three, 6 of 6 at the line); Murray added 25, Jokić 21. Q2 was theirs, 39-34, but the other 4 periods went 103-92 against them. They led by as many as 14. Johnson's -17 in 32 minutes was the worst on the floor.
10/25 vs PHX 133-111 — DEN notes
DEN won 133-111. DEN shot 51% (43 of 84) to PHX's 43%, 9 of 31 from three, and went to the line 42 times to PHX's 22 — 38 points from the stripe to their 18. Murray led with 23 (8 of 17, 3 of 8 from three); Braun added 20, Gordon 17. The hinge was Q2, 37-26: a lead of 6 became 17, and the lead reached 25. Jokić was the night's best plus/minus at +27.
11/03 vs SAC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 124 a night and allowing 112, shooting 52 percent and 35 from three, 25 free throws a game; Murray at 26 and Jokić at 20 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. 2 days' rest. Sacramento comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 119, shooting 48 percent and 37 from three, 24 free throws a game; LaVine at 29 and DeRozan at 19 a game. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. Without Plowden (6 straight), McDermott (6 straight). One day's rest.
So: Denver wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-8 a night and Sacramento minus-7 and the defense, Denver allowing 112 a night to Sacramento's 119. Call it Denver 123, Sacramento 112, Denver by 11.
10/22 vs SAC 120-116 — PHX notes
PHX won 120-116. PHX shot 47% (45 of 95) to SAC's 50%, 10 of 34 from three. The glass went 51-37 for them. Booker led with 31 (10 of 19, 1 of 3 from three, 10 of 15 at the line); Brooks added 22, Allen 18. The hinge was Q3, 36-21: the deficit went from 17 to 2. PHX trailed 54-71 at the half and won the second half 66-45. Williams was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
10/24 @ LAC 102-129 — PHX notes
PHX lost 102-129. PHX took 14 more shots (90 to 76), fed by 15 offensive rebounds, but shot 41% to LAC's 59%, 16 of 47 from three, and got to the line 15 times to LAC's 26. Brooks led with 21 (7 of 17, 5 of 10 from three); Booker added 18, Gillespie 13. Q4 was theirs, 25-23, the deficit cut from 29 to 27, but the other 3 periods went 106-77 against them. Booker's -22 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
10/25 @ DEN 111-133 — PHX notes
PHX lost 111-133. PHX shot 43% (38 of 88) to DEN's 51%, 17 of 50 from three, and got to the line 22 times to DEN's 42. Booker led with 31 (10 of 16, 2 of 5 from three, 9 of 9 at the line); Allen added 17, Brooks 15. Q3 was theirs, 29-29, but the other 3 periods went 104-82 against them. O'Neale's -23 in 28 minutes was the worst on the floor.
11/02 vs SAS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Phoenix comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 122, shooting 44 percent and 36 from three, 21 free throws a game; Booker at 30 and Allen at 16 a game. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. Without Brooks (3 straight). One day's rest. San Antonio comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 118 a night and allowing 104, shooting 51 percent and 38 from three, 30 free throws a game; Wembanyama at 30 and Castle at 19 a game. That is 5 straight wins. It has won the glass by 14 a night. Without Kornet (3 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: San Antonio wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where San Antonio has been plus-14 a night and Phoenix minus-7 and the defense, San Antonio allowing 104 a night to Phoenix's 122. Call it San Antonio 119, Phoenix 111.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENAG A. Gordon
BB B. Brown
CB C. Braun
CJ C. Johnson
DH D. Holmes II
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JS J. Strawther
JV J. Valančiūnas
JO Jokic
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
SJ S. Jones
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
VA Valanciunas
ZN Z. Nnaji
PHXCG C. Gillespie
DB D. Booker
DB D. Brooks
GA G. Allen
IL I. Livers
JG J. Goodwin
KM K. Maluach
NH N. Hayes-Davis
NR N. Richards
OI O. Ighodaro
RD R. Dunn
RF R. Fleming
RO R. O'Neale
DEN/PHX the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Jokic's triple-double lifts Nuggets over Suns 133-111
DENVER -- — Nikola Jokic had his second triple-double of the season despite a quiet shooting night, Jamal Murray scored 23 points, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns 133-111 in their home opener on Saturday night.
Jokic finished with 15 assists, 14 rebounds and 14 points on just 5 of 8 shooting. His first field goal attempt came with 2:26 left in the second quarter. He notched the triple-double on a turnaround hook shot with 57 seconds in the period.
Jokic has 166 career triple-doubles during the regular season, third behind Russell Westbrook (203) and Oscar Robertson (181), and 18 more in the playoffs.
Devin Booker had 31 points and Grayson Allen scored 17 for the Suns, who were playing the second game of a tough back-to-back. They tipped off Saturday night 20 hours after losing by 27 to the Los Angeles Clippers and didn’t have center Mark Williams , who was out with a right knee injury.
Phoenix trailed by 20 early in the third quarter but went on a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to 83-74. The Nuggets scored the next 11 points and took a 100-83 lead into the fourth.
Murray, who had 25 points and 10 assists in the loss at Golden State , sparked Denver at the start of the final period with a 3-pointer that made it 108-86. He also beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter with a 55-foot pullup jumper.
The Suns got within 110-99 midway through the fourth but the Nuggets answered with a 14-2 run to put it away.
Aaron Gordon followed his career-high 50-point game Thursday night with 17 points and was 1 of 6 from deep.
Up next Suns: Visit the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
Nuggets: At the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.