Gordon Hayward is red hot. The Denver Nuggets are not.
Hayward scored 32 points, 21 in the third period alone, in a 105-98 victory over the Nuggets in Salt Lake City on Saturday night. Denver dropped its third game in a row and fifth in six outings. The Jazz led 49-47 at halftime and the Nuggets went ice cold in the third quarter. Hayward actually outscored Denver, who had just 16 points as a team in the quarter, on his own. The Jazz forward has 95 points in his last three games.
One night after effectively calling out his veterans following a home loss to Houston, head coach Michael Malone put the pressure on that group by giving them the lion’s share of the minutes against Utah. From Malone’s group of rookies and sophomores, only Emmanuel Mudiay clocked more than 22 minutes in the loss. Wilson Chandler led the veteran bunch with 41; he also led the Nuggets with 20 points, tying Will Barton with that effort.
Nikola Jokic did not play in the game for Denver. He suffered a wrist injury earlier in the week and missed his second game in a row. He is not expected to return to the lineup until Thursday at the earliest.
Denver now travels across the country to Philadelphia where they will take on the 76ers on Monday.