Green bests Fournier in unlikely showdown, Suns top Nuggets in overtime

It appears this generation has finally found its Bird and Magic. No, not Kevin Durant and LeBron James. It's Gerald Green and Evan Fournier.

Green and Fournier had an unlikely battle on Tuesday night, going toe-to-toe through the fourth quarter and in to overtime. In the end, Green led his Phoenix Suns to a 112-107 victory over Fournier's Denver Nuggets, but it took an extra frame and a lightning-in-a-bottle performance to do it.

Green finished the game shooting 11-of-22 with six threes, good for a career-high 36 points. He scored 10 in the fourth quarter and eight in overtime, while no other Sun scored more than four in those final 17 minutes. He's averaging a career-best 14.6 points on the season and has been a driving force in Phoenix's surprising start, but this was unexpected to say the least.

Fournier also set a career-high, scoring 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting and adding eight rebounds and four assists. He scored a paltry eight points in the fourth and overtime, leading the Nuggets but paling in comparison to Green's heroics. The Frenchman is averaging just 7.2 points, making the outburst all the more impressive.

With the win, the Suns start the second half on a good note, improving to 31-21 overall and edging into sixth in the West. Despite the incredible and surprising start, the Suns find themselves with little room for error, just one-and-a-half games up on the ninth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.