PHOENIX • A trick Jamal Murray picked up during his injury rehabilitation helped him move on from a frustrating pregame shooting session Saturday in Phoenix.

“I was missing terribly in my warmup,” Murray said after Saturday’s 122-105 win over the Suns.

After one especially maddening miss, Murray slammed the ball onto the hardwood and took a moment to himself. Then, he resumed shooting 3s from the corner but did so without jumping.

“Shooting with my left hand or shooting without jumping from 3, I got that from rehab. When I was rehabbing, I wasn’t able to jump, so I was shooting a lot of 3s with no jumping. That would help my arc, so when I started jumping it’s just an easier flow,” Murray said.

“Right after I did that no jumping, I started jumping. I made a few, and I was good from there.”

Once the kinks were worked out, it didn’t take Murray long to leave his mark at the Footprint Center.

Denver’s starting point guard sunk his first three attempts from 3-point range in the first three minutes. Nikola Jokic assisted two of the early 3s, while Aaron Gordon set up the third.

“When he shoots the ball like that, it’s easier for everybody,” Jokic said after scoring 26 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out nine assists in three quarters of work. “He can create his shot and create for somebody else.”

After the barrage of 3s, Murray got inside for a driving layup that gave him 11 points in the first four minutes.

“The way he’s played lately, people are going to gameplan for him going in,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after the win.

“Now, it’s kind of like pick your poison. How do you guard that two-man game? How do you guard Nikola in the post? How do you guard Jamal Murray in space. Obviously, we know what both those guys are capable of.”

Murray led all scorers with 30 points and needed only 23 shots to get there, going 6 of 9 from 3-point range. He added five assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block in 38 minutes of playing time. He started Saturday listed as questionable on the injury report due to left knee inflammation. He didn’t play in Thursday’s win over the Magic but made his return against the Suns. He was cleared to play after going through his pregame routine. The 27-year-old said there are times when he can’t miss in warmups and goes cold in the game and vice versa, but he doesn’t try to let that affect him. That approach, and trick from the days when he was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, served him well against the Suns.

“I just try to focus on the basics, especially in the warmups,” Murray said. “

“I’ve been lifting more often this past week. I couldn’t feel my shot going into the warmups. I needed that extra time to find it. That set me up for the beginning of the game. Sometimes it just takes a little extra work to find it.”

NUGGETS 122, SUNS 105

What happened: Denver led by five after the first quarter and stretched the advantage to 63-55 by halftime. The Nuggets took a 17-point edge to the fourth quarter and improved to 34-19. Phoenix, which was without Kevin Durant, dropped to 26-26.

What went right: Denver finished with a 54-36 advantage in points in the paint, 20-8 edge in fast-break points and committed just nine turnovers, three of which came in the final minutes.

What went wrong: Michael Porter Jr. missed his first game of the season due to hamstring tightness. He warmed up briefly before the game but was ruled out soon after.

Highlight of the night: Bol Bol has 9 inches on Christian Braun, but the current Nuggets forced the former Nugget into a business decision. With Nikola Jokic on the block, Braun cut down the middle of the lane, caught a quick pass from Jokic, and cocked it back for a one-handed tomahawk slam as the 7-foot-3 Bol looked on late in the second quarter.

Up next: It’s back to Denver for Monday’s game against Portland at Ball Arena.