Kevin Durant, Suns Trolled by Fans After Jokić, Nuggets Dominate for 3-2 Series Lead

Ball Arena continues to be a problem for the Phoenix Suns, who find themselves on the brink of elimination after a 118-102 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday night.

After tying up the series with two straight home wins, the Suns suffered their third consecutive double-digit loss in Denver. Their defense allowed the Nuggets to shoot 49.4 percent overall and 13-of-27 from three-point range.

Nikola Jokić remains an unstoppable force for the Nuggets. The MVP runner-up finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists for his second triple-double in the series.

Devin Booker looked mortal for the first time in the series. He finished with 28 points, but was just 8-of-19 shooting from the field. He missed more shots in Game 5 than in the previous two games combined (nine).

Kevin Durant had a rough shooting performance for the third time in the past four games. The 13-time All-Star was 10-of-24 for 26 points, though he did have 11 rebounds and seven assists.

As the Suns look for answers to keep their season alive, fans had some fun at their expense after another double-digit loss to the Nuggets in Denver.

Chris Paul's injury did hurt the Suns' depth because they don't have a lot of it, but it looked like they found a solution to be better without him. They were playing faster in the previous two games, and the results were great, with more than 120 points both times.

But even when Booker played brilliantly in Game 4, the Suns don't win that game without 40 points from their bench. Landry Shamet scored 19 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting in 30 minutes.

If the Suns wanted to keep that momentum going, they were going to need another effort like that from their reserves. They contributed 26 points on 10-of-25 shooting on Tuesday night.

Denver can clinch its second trip to the Western Conference finals with a victory in Game 6 at the Footprint Center on Thursday night at 10 p.m. ET.