The Denver Nuggets absolutely shellacked the Utah Jazz 142-120 on Saturday night, one of their best blowout wins of the 2023-24 regular season…in three of the four quarters.

Jamal Murray led the way with 37 points, scoring 24 of those in a first half tidal wave from the Nuggets. Denver scored 78 points, shooting 67% from the field, 70% from three, and 100% from the free throw line in the process. Denver shot 14-of-20 from three in the first half, while the Jazz shot 4-of-17. It was one of the most impressive shooting displays of the Nuggets season.

“I was really proud of our approach to start the game. The way we approached this game to build a 39-point lead was outstanding,” Michael Malone shared.

The Nuggets did a great job in the first half especially, playing great on both ends of the floor. Then, they got bored.

In the second half, the Nuggets took their foot off the gas, but it didn’t change the overwhelming nature of the scoreboard. Denver played something of a prevent defense for the rest of the game, allowing the Jazz to outscore them 44-24 in the third quarter. It was actually Denver’s worst quarter of the season by point differential but didn’t end up mattering because they were up by 37 points at one time. Of course, Malone wasn’t exactly excited to see Denver’s lead go from 37 points to 14 points by the end of the third quarter.

“We stopped playing,” Malone admitted on the Nuggets third quarter. “That was a joke. That was embarrassing.”

Fortunately for Denver, they knew exactly how to recover in the fourth quarter, putting the pressure back on Utah. Murray was instrumental in the fourth, scoring 12 points and setting the table for teammates as a playmaker. Murray finished the game with 37 points, seven assists, and just one turnover. He was locked in offensively.

Christian Braun also delivered in the fourth quarter as a scorer and defender. He played just under 17 minutes and fouled out by the middle of the fourth, but his energy and shotmaking was great to see. Braun shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from three, scoring 13 points, grabbing four rebounds, and playing a physical brand of basketball the Nuggets needed. The Nuggets are happy to see Braun get back on track, and he looks ready for what’s to come in April and beyond.

“He’s trying to become a runoff,” Jamal Murray said of Christian Braun’s game. “I’m just telling him to shoot that thing with confidence and to shoot it quicker. For him, when he sees that first one go down especially, he’s super confident for the rest of the game.”

Oh, and Nikola Jokic also had 26 points, six rebounds and eight assists, shooting 12-of-14 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line. Jokic’s shooting touch was obviously impressive, but it was the way he maneuvered around shot blocker Walker Kessler and used the second-year player’s shot blocking against him that was so impressive. Jokic is especially locked in right now and continues to find ways to be successful. The Jazz don’t have a good defense, and the Nuggets took advantage of that with Murray and Jokic leading the way.

Jokic also bombed away on out-of-bounds fullcourt passes tonight, hitting both Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. in stride for easy dunks that led to a Jazz timeout.

“I was just saying that. I need those,” Christian Braun shared on Jokic going fullcourt to assist a cherrypicking Gordon and Porter. “Those are two of the easiest buckets I’ve seen in a long time…Imma try it next game and see if it works.”

There are differing opinions on how much Denver’s bad third quarter matters vs the rest of the game. In the grand scheme of things? Not a lot. Denver won the game by 22 points, scoring 142 on the night. Denver outscored Utah 118-77 in the first, second, and fourth quarters combined. They were clearly unstoppable when they wanted to be, and the only reason the game was close was because Denver allowed it to be so.

“I’ll take the win,” Malone intoned. “But I’m not going to let this slide and say this was acceptable.”

“I’m not just going to accept how we played. We have to be better. We have to hold ourselves to a much higher standard.”

Consistently allowing teams like Utah to have life in these situations isn’t the worst thing, but it does leave Denver vulnerable in the standings at the end of this year. It didn’t hurt Denver this time, but it will likely hurt Denver over the final 18 games.

The Nuggets have made it clear that they want to go for the top seed in the Western Conference again. In order to make that happen, they’re going to have to go something akin to 15-3 down the stretch, because it doesn’t appear like the Oklahoma City Thunder are losing any time soon. Denver doesn’t want one or more of those losses to come back and bite them because they allowed a bad team back into the game.

It must be said though: the Nuggets have done a great job of taking care of business throughout the year, possessing a 21-4 record against teams under 0.500. The only four losses: Utah on the road in January, and the Houston Rockets three times back in November and December back when they were more dangerous.

Whether it will happen again is likely up to the Nuggets. They’ve proven how good they are, and they’ve also proven how disciplined they can be. The final 18 games of the season will test them, and there are plenty of reasons to wonder whether the Nuggets will become extremely bored when it’s all said and done.

“Getting extra reps and playing basketball is part of the job,” Murray shared. “So, we’re just going to stay ready and build better habits until the playoffs actually start.”

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