The Utah Jazz took over the fourth quarter and outscored the Denver Nuggets 34-14 to win it 125-102. Donovan Mitchell finished with 31 points, while Rudy Gobert put up 18 points and 19 rebounds.
Between the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter Utah went on a 21-4 run that was just too much for Denver to come back from. In addition to Utah’s two all-stars putting up big numbers, it was an all around effort. Bojan Bogdanovic had 21 points, and Jordan Clarkson added 26 off the bench. The also Jazz also went to the free throw line 29 times to the Nuggets eight, but head coach Michael Malone said that wasn’t the deciding factor.
“The key [was] tired legs, inability to make shots and then our inability to guard consistently,” Malone said. “That third quarter was a good defensive quarter. I think we held them to 36% in that quarter but it’s a game of runs and that close of the third and start of the fourth 21-4 on a night where we are struggling to make shots it’s just hard to make up that ground.”
Denver was on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Lakers 133-96 on Saturday night but will get a much needed break with two days off until its game on Wednesday against the Clippers.
Nikola Jokic finished the night with another dominating performance scoring 25 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists. Aaron Gordon added 20 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
Gordon felt that the discrepancy in free throw attempts didn’t make much sense and believes that Jokic deserves way more respect from the referees.
“It’s crazy that Jok doesn’t get more free throws,” Gordon said. “Jok was 3-3 from the free throw line? That’s unbelievable. He’s fouled every play. Obviously the refs aren’t going to call it every play but they’re all over his arms, all over his body, they’re grabbing him. He’s not officiated as everybody else and it’s not right. He’s reigning MVP of the league and he’s getting three free throws a game?”
Standing at 6-foot-11 and 284 pounds Jokic is nearly impossible to guard without fouling him. His arms are filled with cuts and bruises every game but the reigning MVP says he doesn’t even try to argue his case with the officials anymore.
“I’m really trying not to talk to them because I try to and then I get technical, ejected,” Jokic said. “So I don’t even try to talk to them anymore.”
Malone mentioned another factor in Sunday night’s loss was the bench’s shooting struggles. Denver’s bench has been good as of late and scored 57 points against the Lakers but was outscored 36-24 against Utah’s bench.
The Nuggets got off to an 8-0 start and it looked promising. Gordon was cooking and scored nine straight points. He went 4 of 6 from the field and 2 for 2 from beyond the arc to finish the quarter with 12 points. Denver took a 15-7 lead midway through but then Utah responded with a 9-3 run to get within two points. Jordan Clarkson started catching fire from downtown hitting three 3-pointers to ignite an 11-2 run to end the first. Jazz took a 37-33 lead.
Utah opened the second right where it left off and hit two quick shots to go up 41-33. Denver then went on a 9-2 run to get within four points. The Jazz had a 49-45 lead with 4:34 left. Jokic started going off and scored 13 points in the second quarter alone but it wasn’t enough to counter Donovan Mitchell who scored 11 points down the stretch including two threes to go up 68-58 heading into halftime.
After a Mike Conley 3-pointer, Denver went on a 13-4 run to cut Utah’s lead to four points. Will Barton went on to score seven straight points to give the Nuggets the 81-80 lead with 3:27 left to go. He finished the quarter with 11 points. Jokic then hit a three to take an 84-81 lead but Utah closed the third with two 3-pointers from Rudy Robert and Joe Ingles and four straight points from Donovan Mitchell to take a 91-88 lead.
Denver’s bench unit looked sluggish to start the fourth and allowed the Jazz to go on an 11-0 run to take a 102-88 lead. At the 9:18 mark, Jokic checked back in and immediately scored to make it 102-90. Utah went on another 9-5 run to take a 111-95 lead with 5:51 left. Denver called a timeout but it didn’t stop the bleeding. The Jazz followed it up with 14-7 run to close it out and win it 125-102.
“We didn’t play up to our abilities,” Malone said. “They played well. Are they a tough team to defend? Yes and not just for us. They’re the number one offense in the NBA halfway through the season and they’re having the same impact every night they play and that’s why they are number one. They present a lot of problems.”
The Nuggets have three more home games before they hit the road for six straight. They are 22-20 on the season and currently sit in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.