The Denver Nuggets took advantage of an easy matchup tonight, defeating the Utah Jazz 129-103 on the second night of a back-to-back.

Nikola Jokic finished the game with 29 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists, leading the Nuggets starting unit and applying pressure early and often to the Jazz. Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points on elite shooting while Julian Strawther contributed 19.

The Nuggets jumped out to a quick start with some Michael Porter Jr. jumpers. He was tremendous looking for and finding good shots consistently throughout the first half and had 18 points on 4-of-6 from three at the break. He and Aaron Gordon continue to have three-point shooting contests in the last few games with Gordon shooting 2-of-3 in the first half, a welcome sight.

The bench lineups unfortunately struggled though. Russell Westbrook started but then staggered with the second unit. DeAndre Jordan filled in tonight for Dario Saric at backup center, and the results were effectively the same in the first half.

If there was one bench guy that stood out in a positive way in the first half, it was Hunter Tyson. He played 13 minutes with both the bench and starting groups, even playing some shooting guard in lineups without a primary ball handler.

Fortunately, the second half was even better for both the starters and second unit. Nikola Jokic rattled off 18 points in the third quarter to extend Denver’s lead, including three three-pointers in a row. He was aggressive as a scorer and clearly didn’t want to let the Nuggets get into a back-and-forth game in the fourth quarter on a back-to-back. Jokic finished with 27 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists in 30 minutes and (fortunately) didn’t check back in during the fourth quarter.

Denver led by 24 points after three quarters and held onto the lead in the fourth. Julian Strawther got going with several baskets. He was dealing with foul trouble in the first half but made up for it, scoring the majority of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.

Peyton Watson also found a bit of a rhythm in the second half on both ends of the floor. He’s been struggling to score and space the floor for the bench to start the season, but three steals and some trips to the free throw line in 20 minutes helped him out. Watson still shot 2-of-9 from the field though. He needs to turn around his efficiency a bit.

Overall, it was a nice bounce back for the Nuggets after last night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Nuggets needed an easy win, and they made it happen.

Nuggets trending in the right direction?

In my mind, every game for the Nuggets this season has brought them closer to where they need to go, culminating in a blowout win against a bad opponent tonight.

Michael Porter Jr. shared similar thoughts on why the Nuggets are in a good place after starting the year slow.

“I think whenever you have a new group of players and new guys playing together in different personnel, it takes time because you don’t get to be in those game situations during training camp.”

Porter continued: “The adjustment to the starting line up with Christian, you know, we’re figuring out each other’s tendencies and things like that still. And then on the bench, guys are figuring out how to play with Russ, how we can surround Russ with the right pieces.”

“I think it just takes time, and we’ll get more comfortable as games go on.”

Julian Strawther shared a similar sentiment.

“We’re definitely finding our identity, and I feel like we’re we’re doing a really good job of keeping things inside our own walls. Obviously there’s a lot of outside noise on on what’s going on in our locker room, but we’ve done a good job of just continuing to grow.”

The Nuggets were never going to be perfect out of the gate. With so many new faces and young players the bumps in the road shouldn’t be surprising. The degree to how poor the bench has performed is still a real concern, but the starters have made serious strides in just six games. They look like a different team than the one that faced the Thunder on opening night.

Will that progress translate? Can the Nuggets continue the momentum going forward? Time will tell.

For now though, it’s great to live in a world where Nikola Jokic is shooting 60% from three-point range on the season.