Pirate Galaxy » pushed hard and he slowly

PHOENIX -- Poise down the stretch has not always been a virtue of the Denver Nuggets.It certainly was Sunday.It seemed that every time Phoenix pulled close, Denvers Wilson Chandler or Jameer Nelson would make a big shot and the Nuggets held on for a 120-114 victory.I am pretty cool all the time. That is just my demeanor, always laid back, Chandler said. I dont really think about it (taking and making a big shot). It is just another shot, if I miss it or if I make it.Chandler scored 25 points and Nelson 21.The fourth quarter we showed a lot of poise down the stretch, Denver coach Michael Malone said. Guys stepped up and made big plays, made big free throws and we also got the ball inbounds, which has been an issue sometimes this year.Denver withstood an impressive second-half scoring onslaught by Suns guards Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker.Bledsoe led Phoenix with a career-high 35 points, 21 in the second half. Booker added 30, 25 in the last two quarters.Coach Earl Watson benched Marquease Chriss to start the second half after the 19-year-old rookie drew a technical foul from the bench in the first half.Bench Ts put you on the bench in the second half, Watson said. Its a teachable moment, its an accountable moment. But hell learn. He knows I love him. Hell learn.With Alex Len replacing Chriss, the Suns had a big lineup and it worked.The Nuggets led by 20 at the half but Booker and Bledsoe led a rally that cut the lead to three early in the fourth quarter.Denver gained a slightly larger cushion from there before the Suns cut it to four in the final minute but could get no closer.Emmanuel Mudiay added 19 points for the Nuggets.The Nuggets used a 16-point outburst that started late in the first quarter and extended well into the second to build their 20-point advantage. They outscored the Suns 34-15 in the second quarter to lead 53-33 at the break.Bledsoe and Booker brought the Suns almost all the way back.Four consecutive Phoenix 3-pointers -- two by Booker, one by Bledsoe and one by P.J. Tucker -- cut the lead to 80-76, and five straight points by Brandon Knight -- a three-point play and two free throws -- sliced the Denver it to 86-83 with 10:49 to play.The Nuggets scored the next eight points, including 3s by Chandler and Jamal Murray, lifted the visitors out of trouble. But Phoenix managed one more threat.Bookers driving layup down the lane cut it to 114-110 with 38.4 to play. The teams traded a pair of free throws to make it 116-112 with 12.4 seconds left before Murray sealed it with two from the line.It is very disappointing, Bledsoe said. At the same time, we came out the second half and played like we are supposed to play.BLEDSOES STREAKBledsoe is on a roll. The Phoenix point guard had his streak of outstanding performances grow to five. Going into the game, he had averaged 23.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.5 steals in his previous four games.His previous career high was 34 against Houston on March 21, 2015. Bledsoe has 10 career games scoring at least 30, including a 31-point effort at Portland this season.TIP-INSNuggets: Denver has beaten Phoenix four times in a row. ... Chandler and Nelson were a combined 7 of 13 on 3s, one or the other of them consistently sinking one from long-range when Phoenix crept close. ... Danilo Gallinari missed his third straight game with right thigh soreness.Suns: Booker has 10 career 30-point games, four this season. ... Jared Dudley missed the game with left foot soreness, T.J. Warren due to a mild head injury. ... Bledsoe had a 30-point game against the Nuggets last Nov. 14. ... Phoenix had held three of its previous five opponents under 100 points after allowing 100 or more in its first 12 contests.UP NEXTNuggets: Return home to face Miami on Wednesday night.Suns: Wrap up a three-game home stand against Atlanta on Wednesday night.Brent Suter Jersey . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Travis Shaw Brewers Jersey . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/149y-jacob-nottingham-jersey-brewers.html . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Hernan Perez Jersey . Just not the game. Kyle Palmieri scored two straight goals in the third period to rally the Anaheim Ducks past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Tuesday night. Cheap Brewers Jerseys . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months.How can words do justice to the most incredible sports upset of the year? But more on Helen Maroulis Olympic wrestling triumph in a minute.When I was in ninth grade, I made my way through a wrestling bracket of very good wrestlers only to run into a kid I knew I couldnt beat. In Pennsylvania, we called those kids hammers, and Pennsylvania produces more hammers than anywhere in the nation. Hammers walked onto mats aware of the outcome before the anklets even went on. They WANTED cauliflower ears.This kid was a hammer.When we got to the center of the mat, he gave my hand a death-lock and the match was over before it even began. As he wiped the mat with me, my spirit was broken. He smashed my face and cranked my neck in ways I didnt think were possible. At one point, he clamped me in a cradle and chipped my front tooth... with my own knee.I lost 17-2 that day, but the score didnt matter. When someone grabs ahold of you and dominates the way he did, a little piece of your soul takes a hit. He owned me.Helen Maroulis ran into the ultimate hammer at the Rio Olympics. Saori Yoshida had won 13 straight world championships and three consecutive Olympic gold medals. She basically had been untouched since before the flip-phone era. Yoshida was probably the greatest, most dominant Olympic wrestler ever at that point. Think about how many wrestlers lost to Yoshida at weigh-ins, or the first time she grabbed ahold of them.Whats amazing is that Maroulis walked onto the mat that day and she hadnt accepted the outcome. She withstood the first time Yoshida squeezed her head and her wrists, a moment that had crumpled hundreds of opponents over the years. Maroulis fell behind in the match, 1-0, but then roared back to win, 4-1. As the clock wound down, it looked to me like Yoshida finally had that feeling of knowing the inevitable had arrived -- shed run into someone who would not bend. When the match endedd, both wrestlers stayed on their knees, heads buried on the mat, one in agony, one in joy.ddddddddddddThe ref eventually came over and patted Yoshida on the back. It was time to shake hands and anoint Maroulis as the new world champion.And just in case youre wondering, I ran into that same hammer two years later in a crucial dual meet for my high school team. He took me down twice in the first period and was rag-dolling me for the first two minutes of the match. But when the second period began, I lined up on bottom and he gripped my elbow and my waist, and I felt his chest heave in and out. He was running low on gas, and I wasnt.When the whistle blew, I worked to escape and then felt an opportunity to flip him. I rolled him over and he went to his side. I pushed hard and he slowly eased onto his back, before I felt him mentally pack it in. He felt like I had two years earlier, and like Yoshida must have as the clock wound down at the Olympics. The ref slapped the mat -- Id pinned him.My high school pin was, obviously, exactly like Maroulis Olympic title. Except, you know, not in the Olympics, or on TV, in front of a crowd chanting my name. Shed done something that hundreds of wrestlers couldnt have even imagined, let alone pull off.In that moment, she wasnt just a hammer -- she was The Hammer.More on Helen Maroulis? What it feels like to win a gold medal -- finally?Video ?? Life after making wrestling history?Story ?? The day Helen Maroulis beat an invincible legend?Story ?? Top 10 girl power moments from Rio?Story ?? Five women fighters we want to see in the UFC?Story ?The IMPACT25 is espnWs annual list of the 25 athletes and influencers who have made the greatest difference for women in sports. Explore the 2016 list and more content at espnW.com/IMPACT25. ' ' '