(Basketball news) The Phoenix Suns came back strongly in game 3 as they beat the Denver Nuggets 121-114. For the Suns, Booker scored 47 points, Kevin Durant added 39 as Booker had another ultra-efficient scoring night, shooting 20 of 25 from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Durant shot just 12 of 31 from the field but made 14 of 16 free throws.

For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic, who finished second in the MVP voting to Joel Embiid, finished with 30 points, 17 assists and 17 rebounds as Jamal Murray led the scoring with 32 points, while Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points and 12 rebounds. It was a tough night for Suns starting center Deandre Ayton, who finished with just four points and nine rebounds in 26 minutes but KD and Booker combined for 85 points together.

“It’s all I know, this is all I dreamed of as a kid,” Booker said. “I’ve dedicated a lot of my life, moved away from my family when I was young, to pursue being in these moments.”

“They knew what we had to do to win this game,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.

“It’s frustrating not making shots, because that’s what I’m paid to do,” Durant said. “But there also comes a time when you’ve just got to figure it out and push through it.”

“I had some great looks at the end of the game and that would have kept us right there,” Murray said. “I feel like they pulled away because of that. I have to be more locked in, more relaxed down the stretch.”

“I wasn’t a math major but that is a really high percentage,” Malone said. “We have to be a lot better.”

The Boston Celtics took the series as they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-102 in game 3. For the Celtics, Tatum scored 27 points as Jaylen Brown had 23 points. For the 76ers, Embiid had 30 points and 13 rebounds in his second game back from a sprained right knee after receiving his MVP trophy in a pregame ceremony while Harden was 3-for-14 shooting for 16 points.

Now with this win Celtics are in command of this series and go into Philadelphia’s second home game in full confidence. Jayson Tatum and co want to avenge last year’s finals loss to the Golden State Warriors and are determined to do that.

“That was kind of nasty,” Celtics guard Jayson Tatum said.

“I was like, ’Dang, I really got curb-stomped,'” Williams said. “I’m just thankful he didn’t like fully just lean his weight onto it. He definitely got me pretty badly. But then I think he felt that he landed on something, so he picked his foot up. It hurts a little bit.”

“We just held the ball too long, too much,” Embiid said. “We don’t start our actions fast enough. That’s why it looks so slow. We’re not scoring the ball. We’re not making shots.”

Also read: NBA: Warriors humble Lakers in game 2 while Bucks have fired Mike Budenholzer