PHOENIX – Danilo Gallinari scored a game-high 23 points and the Denver Nuggets opened the fourth quarter with a 16-3 run en route to a 110-85 win over the Phoenix Suns in an exhibition game Thursday night.
Corey Brewer scored eight of his 20 points during the decisive run which saw the Nuggets extend an eight-point advantage to 95-74 with 7:04 remaining.
Kosta Koufos scored 15 points and DeMarre Carroll added 14 for Denver, which swept the two-game exhibition series against Phoenix.
Jared Dudley scored 17 points, Hakim Warrick had 15 and Shannon Brown added 14 for the Suns, who were without forward Marcin Gortat, out with a slight non-displaced fracture of his right thumb.
Steve Nash had five points on 2-of-9 shooting and added eight assists in just over 26 minutes for the Suns, who earlier Thursday waived guard-forward Mickael Pietrus.
After opening the game 6 of 24 from the floor in the first quarter, the Suns recovered and led 60-56 on Markieff Morris' 3-pointer with 7:40 left in the third quarter.
But Gallinari and the Nuggets took over from there. Gallinari converted a three-point play, Chris Andersen sank a pair of free throws and Brewer hit a 14-foot turnaround jumper with 5:04 to go in the third for a 70-60 lead.
Phoenix rallied to within six at 77-71 on a three-point play by Brown with 13.5 seconds left in the period, but Gallinari hit a fade away jump shot at the third-quarter buzzer and the Nuggets coasted the rest of the way.
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