The Denver Nuggets lost their fourth straight against the Utah Jazz tonight. Although it was a competitive game for much of the contest, Utah held fairly firm control over this game throughout. They welcomed back their defensive anchor, Rudy Gobert, and he was a menace tonight. He secured 19 rebounds, seven of which were offensive boards, and was a +36 tonight. Nikola Jokic recorded his 9th triple double of the season with 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists and the Nuggets struggled mightily without him on the floor.

With this win, Utah remains undefeated within the division. They are now 3-0 against Denver this season and have scored 115+ in each game. The Nuggets kept pace with this high scoring offense for much of the game but Utah controlled the fourth quarter, outscoring Denver 34-14. The Nugget killer Bojan Bogdanovic was back at it again with 21 points on 8-15 shooting. He and Mitchell led the scoring charge tonight as Mitchell was the game’s highest scorer with 31 points. The Nuggets move to 22-20 on the season with this loss, but they do get a chance to avenge their latest Clippers loss with a rematch on Wednesday at 8:00 PM.

1st Quarter

  • Jeff Green was at it again with another rim rocking jam to give Denver an early 4-0 lead. Morris and Gordon would extend it to an 8-0 lead, while the defense held Utah to 0-4 shooting with two turnovers
  • Bogdanovic and Mitchell quickly responded and combined for seven points but Aaron Gordon answered with seven straight points of his own and gave Denver a 15-7 lead
  • Denver’s hot three point shooting continued early in the first as they shot 4-7. Aaron Gordon chipped in with two threes along with Barton and Bones, but they could not prevent Bogdanovic from getting to the basket on multiple possessions
  • Bones found Jokic in the paint for an and-one opportunity that would stretch the lead to 29-23. Clarkson’s quick six points helped tie the game at 31 as both offenses executed well late in the quarter
  • Jordan Clarkson gave Utah their first lead with two long threes to end the quarter. He scored the last nine for the Jazz to give him 12 points in the quarter

Score: 37-33 Jazz

Scoring leaders: Gordon – 12, Clarkson – 12

2nd Quarter

  • The Jazz continued an extended 15-2 run by attacking the paint with layups from Conley and Paschall. The Nuggets only scored two points without Jokic on the floor at that point while Utah gained the 41-33 advantage
  • Utah began to dominate points in the paint. Gobert’s offensive rebounding aided eight second chance points for them and 26 paint points at the 8:00 mark. Denver’s offense turned stagnant and only focused on perimeter shooting as they started 1-7 in the quarter
  • Barton, Jokic, Morris, and Gordon restored order with nine quick points to bring them back within four at 49-45. Gordon, Barton, and Jokic each scored on layups while Monte hit a contested corner three
  • Jokic recored his second and-one layup to get the score to 50-48. After a Mitchell floater, Jokic dropped in his first three of the game
  • Denver’s offense started the quarter shooting 1-7 but since then they shot 7-10. Unfortunately, it did not affect the Jazz as Mitchell and Bogdanovic combined for eight quick points to increase their lead back to ten
  • Jokic’s offense began to percolate late in the quarter. He scored 13 in the period on 7-9 shooting overall, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists

Score: 68-58 Jazz

Scoring leaders: Jokic – 18, Mitchell – 15

3rd Quarter

  • A Conley three and a Mitchell layup opened the quarter for the Jazz. Jokic missed his first two shots of the quarter including an airballed three, but Monte and Barton scored five consecutive points to prevent a large Utah lead
  • The Nuggets offense found their momentum by playing quick in transition and they started to regain that activity in the second. Following a Jokic steal, he then flew to the cup for a floater and decreased the Jazz lead to eight at 75-67
  • After a Jazz timeout the Nuggets offense came alive. Morris hit a 20 foot jumper along with a Gordon dunk as they obtained an 11-2 scoring run to bring them within four
  • Although Bogdanovic continued his good play, the Nugget defense held Utah to 5-14 shooting to begin the quarter and 1-7 from three. Will Barton converted on two contested layups to bring the score to 80-76
  • Barton then gave the Nuggets the lead at 81-80 with his 11th point of the quarter. The majority of his touches ended with him driving to the basket as that mentality appeared to give Denver the momentum at the moment
  • Jokic, Bones, and Reed scored Denver’s next seven points but their lackluster defensive rotations gave up two Utah threes and a Mitchell layup

Score: 91-88 Jazz

Scoring leaders: Jokic – 23, Mitchell – 23

4th Quarter

  • Paschall, Conley, and Gobert gave the Jazz a 11-0 scoring run at the start of the quarter. Two Clarkson free throws would give the Jazz a 102-88 and their largest lead of the game
  • The Jazz run forced Jokic to enter the game at about the 10:00 mark. As soon as he came in, he knocked down a mid range jumper and assisted on a Bones three
  • Utah responded with a deep Mitchell three and then forced Jokic’s 5th foul. The Jazz entered the penalty early so they were able to shoot free throws for every foul since the 9:00 mark
  • A Clarkson dunk handed the Jazz their largest lead of 18 at 113-95. The Nuggets offense went completely cold and the defense offered Utah whatever look they desired
  • Donovan Mitchell continued to light it up late in the fourth and the Jazz would not look back. Their defense gave him easy transition opportunities and he found his three-point stroke as the game went on

Score: 125-102 Jazz

Stat leaders

Points: Mitchel – 31

Rebounds: Gobert – 19

Assists: Jokic – 14

Silent hero of the game: Rudy Gobert – 18 points, 19 rebounds (7 offensive), and 2 blocks on 7-7 shooting and was a game high plus/minus +36