The Nuggets (6-7) were dominant on the glass and efficient in moving the ball around but it wasn’t enough as they suffered a 109-105 defeat to their Rocky Mountain rivals, the Utah Jazz (9-4), at Ball Arena. Denver, which entered the game ranked 28th in rebounds, owned the boards 52-36 against the NBA’s top rebounding team and only had nine turnovers. Yet, its three-point defense proved costly as it allowed Utah to hit 15 of 37 from downtown.
"Our guys played hard as hell tonight," Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said after the game. "I'm proud of the effort, I'm proud of our guys. Obviously, it always sucks to lose and it is a tough loss to a division opponent -- that team is playing very well."
Nikola Jokić nearly had another triple-double, putting up 35 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists to lead Denver. Utah was paced by Jordan Clarkson, who paced the team with 23 points. The Jazz had six scorers in double figures.
"We do enough to win the game and then we have certain breakdowns or streaks where we kind of blank out and the other team goes on a run and that hurts us," Jamal Murray explained. "That gives the [other] team confidence."
Star duo shines Murray has been struggling with an elbow injury, but he had a strong opening half as his 24 points in 21 minutes powered the Nuggets to a five-point lead at the break. Despite the aforementioned injury, Murray didn’t hesitate to attack the rim throughout the game. Late in the first quarter, he beat on O’Neale off the dribble to go in for a one-handed slam. Murray cooled off in the second half, adding another six points on 2-of-11 shooting, but that’s when the Joker took over. Jokić scored 19 of his 35 in the final two quarters to help keep the Nuggets in the game as the Jazz made their run. He also had nine rebounds and five assists in the second half. Offensive struggles affect team Outside of Murray and Jokić, who combined for 65 points, the Nuggets struggled to find anyone else who was a threat throughout the matchup.
Denver shot just 40 percent on the night while Utah converted at 51.3 percent.
"It wasn't for a lack of effort [that we lost], but you have to be able to convert and finish some of those [opportunities]," Malone said.