PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns are now 1-3 on the year after falling to the Denver Nuggets 127-120 Friday night at Mortgage Matchup Center in their opening NBA Cup group stage game.

Phoenix continues to have problems to figure out, but overall played a much more competitive game against Denver.

Here were three big takeaways from the Suns' loss to the Nuggets:

Defense Needs to Be Better

The Suns came into the night saying there was a huge focus on defense this week after posting the worst defensive rating in the NBA through their first three games.

Instead, Phoenix allowed a season-high 127 points and has now let up 122 points or more in all four games it has played.

The Suns still have the worst defensive rating in the league by over four points at 125.8 following the loss.

Jamal Murray poured in 39 points and Christian Braun added 31 for the Nuggets, as each player shot 7-for-9 from 3 (career high in makes for Braun) and Denver converted 52.6% of its 3-pointers as a team.

"I think at periods it was us. That’s what we just talked about, periods that was our energy, that was our intensity, and then there’s some piece to execution that we need too," Suns coach Jordan Ott said of his team's defense. "There’s going to be some of those moments where, give them credit. They’ve been a top-five offense for five or six years. They were number one offense last year.

"They got shot making from a guy that’s made five all year, made seven, I believe that’s a career high, I would guess. So, we were trying to take it out of (Nikola) Jokic’s hands at times. The ball found him especially in the first half, Braun, and he made them. So, credit there. But at times it felt like us, that’s why this one feels a little different.

"We haven’t just stressed defense for three days; we stressed it a little longer than that. So, continue to go back, keep adding layers to it, which we’re further ahead because it is year two. We’ll keep piling on and piling on our guys to see where we can take this thing.”

Worst Defensive Rating In The 2026-27 NBA Regular Season (Min. 3 GP & 25 MPG):

1. Devin Booker — 137.2
2. Dillon Brooks — 136.9
3. Jalen Green — 133.9
4. Jaren Jackson Jr. — 129.1
5. Matas Buzelis — 128.6
6. Miles Bridges — 124.2
7. Lauri Markkanen — 123.7
8. Zach Lavine — 123.6… pic.twitter.com/fBzyeKy4Pb

— Clutch Numbers (@ClutchNumbers) October 31, 2026

Suns Take Step Forward

Even though they allowed 127 points, the Suns showed a lot more intensity and effort than they had through the first three games, which was boosted by Oso Ighodaro returning from an oblique strain.

Miles Bridges had his best game so far with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while the Suns' bench outplayed Denver's, led by 16 points and 10 assists from Collin Gillespie.

Phoenix outrebounded the Nuggets 42-41 after allowing the most offensive rebounds per game in the NBA coming in, had much better ball movement with a season-high 34 assists and forced 19 turnovers.

Although they could not fully come back, the Suns had a lot more fight in the fourth quarter as well.

"This loss feels different than Portland and OKC because it's more of the way that we're doing some of the stuff that we pride ourselves on, the stuff that we talk about," Gillespie said. "There's moving parts, last year guys were in that lineup, offensively we're still figuring out all being on the floor together.

"Defensively, we added some new guys. Man-Man (Khaman Maluach) didn't really play a ton last year and he's doing a great job. But we're going to continue to grow and learn from this stuff. I said it in the locker room, the world's not ending. We were 1-4 to start the year last year, and we just continually got better.

"Now the non-negotiable stuff, if we lose games that way, like playing hard and competing, and that's what we pride ourselves on. We can't have that, but if we're trying to do the right things we're going to continue to get better. We're going to continue to grow and then our competitive advantage is playing hard every night, every possession, and we can't lose sight of that."

Suns Have Starting PG Decision to Make

The Suns went with Gillespie next to Devin Booker, who finished with 20 points (7-19 FG) and five assists on his 30th birthday, in the backcourt down the stretch instead of Jalen Green, who finished with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in 25 minutes.

Even though Green hasn't played poorly overalll so far, there's an argument to be made that Gillespie's 3-point shooting ability and playmaking complement the rest of the starting lineup much better.

If Green goes to the bench, he could be the first option when he comes in, instead of trying to take on more of a playmaking role with the starting five, which is something he hasn't really done in his career up until this year.

The Suns likely will give the starting lineup more time to figure things out, and they are behind Green 100% after a tough game.

"There's 82 games in a season. Sometimes you're gonna have quiet nights. Sometimes you're gonna have off nights. But yeah, obviously, everybody has unbelievable confidence in JG, and we support him," Gillespie said.

"Just tell him to go out there, continue to play, continue to take his shots, continue to play hard. And his energy is infectious, like we can feel it. When he's going, the crowd can feel it, we can pick up off of that, so just trying to tell him to continue to keep going. Obviously, when Dillon (Brooks was ejected), I was like, 'Yo, this is going to flip for you at some point really soon. Continue to just put pressure on the defense, and then if your shot's not falling, just do other stuff,' which he normally does really well.'"

"He's been so good to start the season in terms of like his approach to every day. So we're riding with JG 100 times out of 100 times, and next game he could go out there, and he's liable to put up 30 every night. So we're just keeping his spirits high. My first game. I was 0-for-8. Nobody's. It's just how the season goes. Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn't. But continue to trust your work, and teammates will pick you up, so we got a ton of confidence in JG."