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The Nuggets have been adept at finding ways to win games lately, but they haven’t played a lot of winning basketball. They submitted a much more convincing sample of evidence Monday night with a 117-90 rout of the Phoenix Suns. Possessing a rare halftime lead, albeit a narrow one of 55-51, Denver improved to 5-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season by pulling away in a 45-28 third quarter at Ball Arena. Phoenix’s 90 points were the fewest the Nuggets (16-11) have allowed this season. “I thought that was one of our best defensive efforts from beginning to end,” coach Michael Malone said. Twenty-four hours earlier, they needed overtime to escape New Orleans with a victory that wasn’t particularly awe-inspiring.

The Nuggets are at the center of trade rumor season in the NBA, but coach Michael Malone says there’s no fire accompanying the smoke for now. Asked on Monday how he manages the locker room when trade talks involving specific players become public, Malone highlighted how early in the season it is and referred to his conversations with general manager Calvin Booth. “A lot of it is noise.

Sean Payton’s worst enemy greets him in the misty mirror every morning for a shave, then cuts him from inside the rest of the day. If Payton ever got out of his own way, he’d rule the world. The Broncos coach needs to listen more to the voice on his play sheet — RUN IT!!!, it said at the top last Thursday, like a deranged Xwitter post — and less to the one inside his head telling him he’s better than that. “I felt we ran it real well early in the game (in the) first half,” Payton reflected earlier this week.

Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray sprained his right ankle Sunday night in New Orleans, causing him to miss Denver’s home game on Monday night against the Suns, coach Michael Malone said. Malone didn’t rule out a return for Murray on Wednesday when the Nuggets visit Phoenix for a prime-time rematch that’ll be part of the NBA’s Christmas day slate. “On the flight back, (we were) hoping that it would improve, and the swelling would go down,” Malone said.

Broncos coach Sean Payton couldn’t hold back his frustration. Last week, the Chargers ran the same play again and again, and his team couldn’t do anything to stop it. It started with wide receiver Josh Palmer running a crossing route, slipping behind linebackers Justin Strnad and Cody Barton before catching a pass from quarterback Justin Herbert, resulting in a 24-yard gain in the first quarter of Week 16’s divisional matchup.

Drelon Miller is finishing his freshman year of college in the same stadium where he wrapped up his senior year of high school. On Saturday, the 20th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes will face No. 17 BYU in the Valero Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome in San Antonio (5:30 p.m. MT, ABC). For Miller and a lot of his teammates, it will be somewhat of a homecoming, as 16 Buffs either grew up in Texas or went to high school in the Lone Star State.