Ty Lawson had 18 points and nine assists and Jameer Nelson added 18 off the bench as the Nuggets (28-45) led wire-to-wire Friday night, beating the Utah Jazz (31-41) 107-91 at home.
Denver got out to a quick start shooting the ball, with Danilo Gallinari nailing a step-back three for Denver’s first points of the game, and Ty Lawson taking and making a little step-back to put the Nuggets out to a 6-0 lead early. The Nuggets shot the ball well all night – 51.3 percent from the field and 54.2 percent from deep.
In the first, matched up against seven-footer Rudy Gobert at center, Kenneth Faried picked up two early fouls, and he’d be quiet most of the night – he finished with just 17 minutes of court time and 1-2 from the field.
Even shooting the ball well, the Nuggets only had a two-point lead, 22-20, after one quarter, but in the second, Denver pulled away. Denver outscored Utah 30-19 in the second, with Jameer Nelson providing a big spark off the bench to start. Nelson drained a pair of threes early in the quarter, and with Denver shooting the ball well, the pick and roll game got going. Lawson was very aggressive getting into the paint and had a few nice assists, finding Wilson Chandler in the corner and spinning around a defender to set J.J. Hickson up with a nice jam.
Nelson finished with 18 points and nine assists off the bench and shot 4-5 from downtown.
With the Nuggets up big at halftime, it never felt like the Jazz had a chance to get back in the game, even though they managed to cut the lead to single digits mid-way through the third quarter. 17 Nuggets turnovers on the night helped Utah keep it somewhat close, and Gordon Hayward finished with an extremely quiet 24 points and seven rebounds on the night to lead the Jazz.
Things got a little sloppy for the Nuggets in the fourth – though Nelson and swingman Will Barton helped extend Denver’s lead, the bench took over towards the second half and helped ratchet up that turnover total. For fans still waiting to see some flashes out of the team’s crop of rookies, Erick Green’s dunk early in the fourth was one of the highlights – and Lawson, who really powered the offense Friday, also had a great game on the celebration front:
Here is Ty Lawson celebrating a dunk by lying down and pretending to swim: http://t.co/kO6s1x5JYc https://t.co/e2KzOpoImg
— SB Nation (@SBNation) March 28, 2015
The Nuggets won’t have much time to enjoy their win. They travel to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers Saturday night. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. MT.
Zach Marburger is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached via email at zmarburger@milehighsports.com or on Twitter @BurchBurger.
