NBA Playoffs: How to Watch Game 1 Of Phoenix Suns-Nuggets Series

PHOENIX, AZ — The Phoenix Suns are making the team's first appearance in the NBA's Western Conference semifinals in 11 years Monday night.

That's because the No. 2 seeded Suns advanced to play the Denver Nuggets by beating LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, four games to two, in the Western Conference quarterfinals last week.

Now, head coach Monty Williams and the Suns will be tasked with slowing down a Nuggets roster that breezed past the Portland Trail Blazers in Denver's opening playoff series.

The two sides squared off three times during the NBA's abbreviated regular season, with the Nuggets winning two of those contests.

Denver features one of the league's top MVP candidates, in forward Nikola Jokic, who averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game during the regular season.

In addition to Jokic, the Nuggets have guard Jamal Murray and forward Michael Porter Jr., who averaged 21.2 and 19.0 points per game this season, respectively.

Here's what you need to know ahead of the opening game of the Phoenix Suns-Denver Nuggets playoff series:

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How to Watch: The Suns and Nuggets will tip off Game 1 at 7 p.m. local time at downtown's Phoenix Suns Arena. TNT will air the contest live nationally. If you want to see the two sides square off in-person, StubHub has tickets starting at $107 per person.

Who to Watch: For the Nuggets, keep an eye on the aforementioned trio of Jokic, Murray and Porter, who combined to average more than 66 points per game between them during the regular season.

For the Suns, it'll be interesting to see whether guard Devin Booker can continue his red-hot shooting. Booker has averaged 29.7 points per game during the Suns six playoff games to-date, including a 47-point outburst in the team's Game 6 series-clinching victory over the Lakers.

Whether veteran guard Chris Paul can rebound from his nagging shoulder injury, which held him to 9.2 points per game during the Lakers series, will be key as the Suns look to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2010.

Perhaps the greatest X-factor for the Suns in that quest will lie with veterans, like forward Jae Crowder, who averaged 1.4 points per game above his regular season scoring average (11.5 points per game vs. 10.1 points per game) during the Lakers series. If Paul can take some of the load off Booker's shoulders and Crowder and company can hit open shots, then the Suns have to like their chances against the Nuggets.