Salt Lake City, UT – The Denver Nuggets will look to keep their Northwest Division record unblemished tonight as they take on the Utah Jazz on the road. The Nuggets have struggled in Salt Lake City recently, losing their last seven road games against the Jazz, last winning in 2014.
The Nuggets come in to tonight’s game with a 31-14 record and are in second place in the Western Conference. Denver has won 10 of their last 13 games. After playing 11 games in 19 days, the Nuggets haven’t played since Saturday, defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers by 22.
The Jazz had been on a six-game winning streak before dropping a game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. Utah has won 8 of their last 10 games to improve their record to 26-22 and moving into the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets and Jazz last met in Denver on November 3rd, with the Nuggets winning 103-88. Gary Harris led the Nuggets with 20 points in 32 minutes. The Jazz were led by Jae Crowder with 21 points off the bench.
Here is what to watch for tonight:
Stopping Donovan Mitchell: The Utah guard has been on a tear of late, averaging 28.6 points over his last 10 games. Mitchell is making 2.2 threes per game this season but is shooting just 32 percent from deep. In Monday’s loss, Mitchell scored 36 points on 12-28 shooting while hauling in seven rebounds and five assists. Mitchell has scored 24 or more in his last nine outings.
Overcoming the crowd noise: The fans in Salt Lake City are one of the most raucous groups in the league, causing opposing teams difficulties. The Jazz are 13-9 at home this season while the Nuggets are 11-10 on the road. The Nuggets have had success in tough opposing arenas this season, finding ways to overcome the crowd noise in Toronto, Oklahoma City and Portland.
Offensive firepower: The Nuggets have scored 100 or more in 15 of their last 16 games. However, the Nuggets haven’t hit the century mark in Utah since 2014. Denver’s last trip to Utah was in November 2017, a game in which they scored a 2017-18 season-low 77 points. The Nuggets scored 124 points on Saturday against the Cavs and dropped 135 on the Bulls just two days before that.
Tonight’s game will tip at 8:30 p.m. MT and will air on Altitude TV, the AltitudeNOW app and ESPN. Fans can listen on Altitude Radio, 92.5 FM.