By the time the Nuggets got out of chill mode, Grayson Allen and the Suns were already scorching.

A 21-1 run fueled a 29-7 close to the second quarter in Phoenix’s 117-107 overtime win over Denver on Tuesday at Ball Arena.

“That game was lost in the second quarter,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

The Nuggets won the first, third and fourth quarters but were unable to overcome Phoenix’s 19-point advantage in the second quarter. While Kevin Durant was 7 of 13 for 16 points at halftime, Grayson Allen was Denver’s biggest issue.

The Suns were without star guard Devin Booker. Phoenix’s starting shooting guard made all six of the 3-pointers he attempted in the first half, scoring 22 points before halftime. He started the third quarter with two more makes, helping Phoenix go up as many as 22, before missing his first 3.

“Give him credit,” Malone said. “He’s a great shooter, but I just didn’t think the effort was there in terms of locating him, finding him, taking away his airspace and limiting his separation.”

Denver held Phoenix to 37 points after halftime and had a chance to hit a game-winner in the final four seconds. Jamal Murray said he, Malone and Nikola Jokic had a conversation about what to do.

“We kind of went back and forth, but I’ve seen ‘Jok’ make that 95 out of 100 times,” Murray said of the final shot of regulation. “We all thought it was going in. Then, AG was still there for the put-back. We still got a good look, so I’m not worried about that.”

Murray passed the ball into Jokic on the left wing. Jokic faked a handoff to Murray and drove toward the baseline, elevating for a running floater from a step in front of the baseline. Jokic’s shot bounced off the front of the rim, and Aaron Gordon’s put-back dunk came just after the buzzer. Jokic said it might not have been perfectly executed, but he can live with the results.

“Sometimes you miss. Sometimes you make,” Jokic said. “It is what it is.”

The effort used to get back in the game seemed to catch up with the Nuggets in overtime. Jokic and Murray committed turnovers on Denver’s first two possessions, while Phoenix made 6 of the 7 shots in overtime. The last Suns bucket was a Kevin Durant 3 that gave him 35 points on 13-of-34 shooting and snapped Denver’s win streak at six games.

“It’s such a winnable game,” Murray lamented. “That might be one of the worst losses we’ve had, and that’s on us. I’m not taking away from them, but they shot really well. At the same time, we didn’t play our greatest. We fought. Then, we lose again in the last five (minutes). It’s just tough.”

Murray led the Nuggets with 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Jokic added 25 points, 15 rebounds and five assists but recorded seven turnovers. Michael Porter Jr. (20) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who hit a pair of clutch 3s in final minutes of the fourth and finished with 11 points, were the only other Nuggets in double figures.

Allen missed his final four 3-pointers and did not score in the final 27 minutes of the game.

“Effort. We did a better job as the game went on. … We had a couple of guys that kind of showed up tonight in chill mode,” Malone said.

“It’s amazing when you play hard what happens.”

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, center, is defended by Phoenix Suns center Jusuf Nurkic, left, and guard Bradley Beal during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

David Zalubowski