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The Nuggets fought hard but couldn’t complete a late comeback as they fell to Utah Jazz 109-105 on Sunday night.
Jamal Murray was explosive in the first half, scoring 24 points in what seemed like another huge night for him. He singlehandedly made up for 48% of Utah’s shots against three, as no one else besides Jokic could do anything offensively. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into the second half. Murray was scoreless in the third and it took up to three minutes to play before coming back on the scoresheet. He finished with 30 but was sorely missed in the third and fourth.
Nikola Jokic was formidable, as usual, with 35 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. Apart from him and Murray, however, no one else on the Nuggets has hit double digits. Will Barton had a really bad night and even missed a few layups and Millsap had no impact on this game. Gary Harris made his comeback and hit two threes and Monte Morris and JaMychal Green were solid on the bench.
Unfortunately, the Nuggets stank without Jokic on the pitch. Utah had a clear height advantage over the Denver reservations, which was costly. Depending on how you rank PJ Dozier, Malone occasionally ran with a bench formation of four guards (Morris, Campazzo, Murray, Dozier) plus JaMychal Green, including starting the fourth. Utah countered with Gobert and big bench wings and that resulted in multiple trips to the free throw line for the Jazz as the baby Nuggets just couldn’t defend themselves. Jordan Clarkson finished with 23 points and hit a very timely three, and Georges Niang scored 11 on his own. I like Denver to play small, but the range of guard benches is too small and it could have cost the Nuggets the game.
Denver had a lot of things to do that they just couldn’t capitalize on. Donovan Mitchell had just 2 points in the first half on a 1-10 shot, but the Nuggets were only leading by five in intermission. Mitchell would find himself in the second half and finish with 18 points, including a two-point dagger in the paint to seal the game at the end of the fourth.
The Nuggets also dominated the glass for a 52-36 rebound advantage, including 23 offensive boards against the Utah Seven. Sadly, that hardly translated into significant second chance points, which is seriously disappointing.
Denver was lucky enough to win this game. A late flurry almost got them there, but in the end it wasn’t enough to get over some bad turnovers and a bad offensive exit from pretty much everyone besides Jokic and Jamal.
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