After a slow start the Denver Nuggets decided to play hard enough to enjoy a win before their holiday weekend, coasting to a relatively easy 122-103 win over the Utah Jazz. Utah was missing several key players but came out hot with a 35 point first quarter before Denver clamped them to the tune of just 68 points over the next three quarters. Nikola Jokic had 19 first quarter points for Denver on his way to a 30 and 10 night, Jamal Murray had 22 points to go with a team-leading 8 assists and 5 steals and Michael Porter Jr. added 19 points of his own. Collin Sexton and Keyonte George combined for 49 points but their supporting players just didn’t have enough to hang with Denver as the Nuggets took home a rare win in Utah.
Game Flow
Utah opened with a three from Micah Potter and a layup from Walker Kessler. MPJ bricked a three and Murray missed a layup but Watson finished one in transition. The Nuggets challenged an early out-of-bounds play and won, but Jamal and Mike both missed threes until Jokic put in an 8-foot bucket. The Jazz had no problem making a pair of threes, Murray missed another for Denver, and the Jazz capped a 14-4 run with yet another three for a 19-8 early lead. Braun was goaltended for a Denver bucket but Kessler answered on the other end, and Jokic made another pair of baskets sandwiched around yet another Utah three pointer. Utah hit an oop to force a Denver timeout, after which Jokic buried a 3 and Braun drew free throws in transition. Denver couldn’t get any offense going except for Jokic, though Strawther hit a couple of free throws. Nikola had a one-handed driving dunk then corralled a laser from Russ for a layup. Russ swished a three, Jokic made more free throws, and a Russ layup made it just a one-point deficit at the end of the first, 35-34. Jokic finished the frame with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
Collin Sexton and Julian Strawther traded threes to open the second quarter, with Julian getting a steal and a second three to tie the game at 40. Deandre Jordan got called for goaltending and the Nuggets had a couple of poor turnovers, MPJ missed a three but Christian Braun made his deep attempt off the rebound as the teams exchanged buckets with Murray getting his first bucket in six attempts right before Jokic returned, then finished a transition bucket to make it 49-46 Denver. Keyonte George swished a three, Murray missed his, and Braun turned the ball over. Peyton Watson got a rebound and ran the length of the floor for a layup with the help of a Jokic screen, and Murray finished in the paint to extend the lead. MPJ got blocked by Kessler but Braun got to the line on a dunk attempt and made both to stretch the Denver lead to 6. Kessler and Murray traded layups, and Jokic’s attempts to get MPJ some points paid off with a tomahawk transition dunk from Mike. MPJ then followed with a putback on Nikola’s miss followed by Mike’s assist on a Nikola runner and Denver finished the half up 63-53.
The Nuggets opened with a Murray drive followed by a steal that finished with an MPJ-assisted Jokic layup. MPJ buried a corner three on an out-of-bounds, Sexton answered with a paint bucket and then Micah Potter hit a 3 for Utah. Jokic made a contested layup, Watson scored for Denver with a transition dunk and Denver took a 16-point lead. Christian Braun had a great transition finish, MPJ had a nice rebound and putback, and Jokic buried a 3 as Denver’s offense was working well. Then Mike made this great cut to get Jokic an assist and MPJ a traditional 3-point play. Kessler had a pair of dunk finishes on Denver defenders, Murray drove the hoop for another finish, but Utah hit a corner three to keep the lead hovering around 20. Jokic banked in an elbow shot and Murray made his first three of the game, then a transition dunk for Porter made it 95-71. Murray buried a foul line jumper, and Hunter Tyson had a great hustle steal that earned him free throws. A Jokic block led to Strawther free throws and a Strawther rejection on the other end closed the quarter with Denver up 100-76.
Utah hit a pair of threes to start the fourth, while Braun had a full-court layup through traffic. Hunter Tyson had a block and then a three to push the lead back to 20, but Russ missed a pair of layups and had a turnover, and Strawther missed another three to keep Utah hanging around. Denver stopped running offense and were mostly just shooting (and missing) threes going 2-for-9 from the field to start the quarter, but with 7 minutes to go they were up 105-88 as Utah’s legs looked tired on this back-to-back and they struggled to convert their own opportunities. MPJ came back in along with Murray, and Westbrook got the last-second layup and then a technical complaining about a lack of whistle. Porter buried a three, Russ got back to the line, and Jokic came back in for mop-up duty. Murray hit a runner, Porter had an oop finish from a Braun pass, and Denver rolled to the finish with the final score of 122-103.
Final Thoughts
Russell Westbrook really does help Denver play the right way. The Nuggets started slow again, but worked through the gears faster. Russell Westbrook came in with the Nuggets down 12 in the first quarter and everything picked up. Jokic was playing hard from the jump but it took a while for Denver to decide to really play. Once Russ boosted the energy in the building the Nuggets found their footing and came storming back in the first, then gave Jokic a lead back when he returned in the second. The Nuggets held the Jazz to just 18 points in the second quarter after a very porous defensive effort to begin the game and they had it working on both sides of the court.
Westbrook made it a point to find Jokic for several buckets, had a couple of nice defensive recoveries and covers for some missed assignments, and if he could hold onto the ball during his transition attempts he would have had even more of an impact. But it’s the way he revs the engine for Denver that is often missing in the ponderous starts to these ball games, and just getting the tempo right is a huge positive step for Denver. They didn’t have it from tip-off, but they found it mid-way through the first thanks to Westbrook and that improvement alone helped them lock down this win. Most importantly, Jokic trusts him and that might be the biggest compliment you can pay any Nugget.
Jokic started the game the right way, Russ came alongside him and and then Murray and MPJ and Braun held up their end. It’s a long season but if the Denver players can just hold up their end they will give themselves the chance to find their groove. Hope everyone enjoys the long holiday weekend, especially the Nuggets. See you all in December.
