The shorthanded Denver Nuggets committed 17 turnovers in a 106-77 loss to the shorthanded Jazz in Utah. The Nuggets, 11-9, fell to 3-7 on the road this season.
Denver was once again without their starting forwards Wilson Chandler and Paul Millsap as they took on the Jazz in Vivint Smart Home Arena on Tuesday night. Juancho Hernangomez and Kenneth Faried slid into the starting rotation, while Torrey Craig was called up from the G-league due to Chandler’s absence.
Denver got off to a hot start using Nikola Jokic primarily as a playmaker. The big man operated near the top of the key and the elbows for the majority of his first stretch of play as he scanned the court for cutting teammates and open shooters. He was in rare form as a passer, picking up four first-quarter assists in just nine minutes.
It helped that Jokic’s favorite target, Gary Harris, was excellent. Harris scored eight first-quarter points on just four shots and the two helped spark a 14-4 run that helped Denver jump out to an early lead despite 3 turnovers.
Unfortunately, as has been the case for most of the season, the wheels fell apart when Michael Malone made his first substitution of the night. The Nuggets were operating with a second unit that was stretched particularly thin and they turned it over three times in just five minutes to end the first quarter. They failed to generate any offense and Utah exploded for a 14-5 run to end the quarter. The shorthanded Jazz — who were without Rudy Gobert, Joe Johnson, and Rodney Hood — led by two after the first 12 minutes with a score of 26-24.
Denver stepped up their defensive effort in the second quarter as they limited Utah to just 22 points. Despite nine turnovers and an inferior shooting performance from both in and outside the arc, Denver entered the locker room with a one-point lead after a first half that featured 13 lead changes thanks largely to a 30-19 Nuggets’ rebounding advantage.
The Nuggets turned it over three times in about two minutes to start the second half and the Jazz took advantage. They opened the third with a 10-0 run and jumped out to a nine-point lead. That lead would fluctuate but Utah never looked back as Denver continued to turn the ball over at an alarming rate and the deficit began to grow.
The Nuggets — who have adopted a new and aggressive style of pick and roll defense this season; one that requires to bigs to come way up and pressure the ball handler — really missed Millsap and Chandler tonight on defense. Without two of their best defensive players, that pick and roll defense looked out of sorts. Without Millsap’s superb help defense it was Jokic who looked exposed as a defender in such play types and Utah attacked him relentlessly in the third quarter as they built an insurmountable lead that eventually grew to 24 points.
Denver drops another road game to the Jazz by a score of 106-77 and the Nuggets are now 11-9 on the season. Gary Harris led the Nuggets with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting while Jokic put together one of his worst games of the season with just seven points on seven shots to go with six rebounds, six assists, and was minus-20 in 26 minutes played. Derrick Favors had 24 points on 16 shots to go with nine rebounds, five assists, one steal, and three blocks. Favors was a game-high plus-30 in the Jazz victory.
Denver will host the Chicago Bulls at the Pepsi center on Thursday night looking to bounce back at home where they are 8-2.
