Jokic, Torey Craig Stop Utah Jazz, Nuggets Win 106-100

The Denver Nuggets recorded a massive win over their direct rivals for one of the top spots in the Western Conference, Utah Jazz. Led by Nikola Jokic, who rebuffed Jordan Clarkson’s fantastic surge in the finish, the Nuggets posted their 33rd win of the campaign, 106-100.

Coach Malone was more than happy.

“Defensively in that fourth quarter, we were tremendous.. offensively, the ball was moving, guys were stepping in, shooting with confidence,” he said. “To me this might be our best win of the year.”

Jokic scored 11 of his 28 points in the last six minutes of the game, presenting the counterweight for fantastic Clarkson, who dropped 24 points in the final period alone. The Jazzers tried to get back and snatch this one, but the Joker, who was elected an All-Star reserve prior to this match, denied their intentions.

The footwork.
The fade.
The All-Star. https://t.co/K9pViCJCBx

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 31, 2020

Also, we need to point out that Torey Craig has been magnificent in handling Donovan Mitchell. The Jazzers’ All-Star shooting guard scored his first points with 4:06 left in the game, and came in the final period shooting 0-for-9 from the field, missing all five attempts from behind the arc. Eventually, Mitchell had 4 points, shooting 1-for-12, adding 8 assists and 5 boards.

Craig’s defensive performance was one of the key reasons why Denver posted a win here. He would end the night with 13 points and 10 rebounds also.

“Torey’s defense on Donovan Mitchel was exceptional,” Malone added.

Along with that, Michael Malone’s crew had a burst midway through the second half, which completely knocked out the guests, who were leading almost all the time until that point.

Hosts had a fantastic run at the end of the third once they completely turned the result upside down. The Nuggets prevented Jazz from scoring in the final 4:13, while on the other side, they’ve added 15 straight buckets.

Denver kept coming after the guests from Salt Lake, and they opened the final period with the same pace from the previous one, demolishing the Jazz in all aspects of the game. The swing was so powerful that Utah’s players didn’t know what hit them. Eventually, the entire run of the Nuggets turned out to be 27-1.

Jokic had 28 points, 10 assists, and 4 boards, along with three steals, shooting 11-for-19 from the field. Will Barton scored 18, while Jerami Grant with 15 and Michael Porter Jr. with 12 points and boards each presented a superb help.

Among the Jazzers, the newcomer from the Cavs was excellent, dropping 37 points in 31 minutes of play, and drilling seven threes. Rudy Gobert posted a double-double 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18, all from long distance.

Utah made 17 threes, and for the first time in their franchise history, the Jazzers had a stretch of 20 games with 10 or more hits from downtown.

After this one, Snyder’s boys travel to Portland to meet the Trail Blazers on Saturday night. After that, Jazz has another clash with the Nuggets only at home, before visiting two Texas-based rivals, the Houston Rockets, and the Dallas Mavericks in back-to-back nights.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, have two games away from home coming up. The next is against the Milwaukee Bucks on the road, in less than 24 hours. It will be followed by a contest vs. Detroit Pistons in Michigan on Sunday, and next Tuesday, Denver meets Portland Trail Blazers at Pepsi Center.