SALT LAKE CITY – The Denver Nuggets have been the best team in the NBA in terms of winning in their division throughout the first half of the season. Leading up to their matchup with the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, Denver had an unblemished 6-0 record against Northwest Division teams, but the Jazz represented their next challenge.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Nuggets had been handed their first divisional loss of the season after the Jazz’s 3-point barrage was too much to overcome. The Nuggets lost 114-108 in Salt Lake City and fell to 6-1 in the Northwest Division.
The Nuggets had an abysmal first five minutes of the game. They allowed the Jazz to jump out to a 8-0 lead to begin the game as Denver continued their drastic defensive slide. Both Gary Harris and Jamal Murray were getting sliced to pieces by Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles which allowed the Jazz offense to get in rhythm early while also throwing Denver’s defense on their heels. To cap off an awful first six minutes of the game, Paul Millsap was called for a five-second violation as he failed to inbound the ball in time. Essentially, nothing was working for the Nuggets early on.
Then chaos erupted as Mason Plumlee and Derrick Favors got into a tussle. After Plumlee grabbed an offensive rebound and tried to go back up for a layup, both Plumlee and Favors began to get extra physical with each other. Favors grabbed Plumlee’s arm and Plumlee took exception. He elected to go after Favors as a fight broke out.
For those curious, here is the Derrick Favors/Mason Plumlee scrap. pic.twitter.com/LqKAebjQob
— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) January 24, 2019
The end result was double-technical fouls for both Favors and Plumlee as both were ejected from the game. Will Barton and Royce O’Neale also received a technical apiece for jumping into the insanity. Now, Denver will have to wait as the NBA league office makes their decisions on future repercussions. Nikola Jokic did leave the bench to stand up for his teammate and was able to get about five steps down the baseline before being held back. Jokic could be facing a one-game suspension for leaving the bench.
Once the first quarter had ended, the Nuggets trailed 30-24. Denver started the first quarter half-asleep as they were completely outplayed in nearly every facet, but after Plumlee’s ejection, the Nuggets woke up and finished the first quarter on a 10-5 run to drag themselves back into the game.
The Nuggets continued to get themselves back within striking distance in the second quarter. After beginning the game in such awful fashion, Denver really turned up the intensity, but that intensity continued to leak out into extracurricular activities.
Just about 10 minutes after Plumlee and Favors got into a fight, Jokic was taking issue with Jae Crowder putting an elbow in his back after the play was over and decided to make sure he knew about it. Jokic got face to face with Crowder and had a few choice words for him before walking away and directly into the chest of Ingles. Somehow, Jokic did not get tossed or receive a technical foul.
Here is Nikola Jokic getting into the face of Jae Crowder.
This game has been beyond chippy.
https://t.co/gKXj1h5IHp— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) January 24, 2019
By the time halftime had arrived, the Nuggets trailed 65-58, but were in the midst of one of the more intense games they have played all year. If Denver wanted to know what a playoff atmosphere is like, they got it in Utah.
Also, even in the middle of all of the chaos, Will Barton had his best half of basketball since returning from injury. He had 12 first-half points to go with two rebounds and four assists while Jokic continued to flirt with a triple-double with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in the first half.
In the third quarter, the intensity did not waver. Both teams continued to attack each other which made for one of the more entertaining games of the season. Rubio continued exposing Denver’s defense while Jokic continued to produce as a scorer, rebounder, and facilitator as he saw fit.
As the third quarter progressed, it became clear that the 3-point disparity was killing the Nuggets. Denver continued to make bucket after bucket, but they couldn’t overcome the 3-point onslaught of the Jazz. By the time the first three quarters have ended, the Nuggets were being outscored by 33 points from 3-point range.
Still, despite the scoring disparity from deep, Barton hit a lethal pull-up 3-pointer in isolation at the end of the third quarter to pull Denver within eight points. Denver trailed 88-80 heading into the final quarter of play.
In the fourth quarter, the Nuggets were able to get within four points of the Jazz, but could not quite get over the hump. They battled and battled, but Denver’s inability to defend the 3-point line eventually doomed them. Jokic did his best to keep Denver close, but even his incredibly productive game wasn’t enough to propel Denver to their 32nd win of the season. They instead logged their 15th loss of the year.
By the time the final buzzer had sounded, Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 28 points, 21 rebounds, and six assists while shooting 10-of-21 from the field. Will Barton also had his best game since his injury and finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists on 8-of-13 shooting. For the Jazz, Donovan Mitchell had 35 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Next, the Nuggets will head back to Denver to take on the Phoenix Suns on Friday, January 25th. That game will tip off at 7pm MST as the Nuggets look to continue their home-court dominance against an inferior opponent in the Suns.