This isn’t the story of the whole game, but it started with the Nuggets having better defense. Aaron Gordon scored six points, mostly on transition dunks. Nikola Jokic also threw a dunk early in the transition. Jamal Murray then did a very well-known midrange pull-up that put Mike Conley to sleep before shooting right over him. After he scored his second basket, on a nice layup in transition, the Jazz called a timeout.
After the timeout, the stifling defense was just a thin facet of the Nuggets’ defensive effort. The Jazz started pouring in on three pointers, with Lauri Markkanen, Malik Beasley and Kelly OIynk all dropping to three. The Nuggets needed to strengthen their defense, allowing his 37 points in the first quarter. The Jazz shot 46.2% from the floor, where he shot 57.7% and three. The Nuggets didn’t do bad offensively with their own 30 points, but what stood out was Bones his Highlands off the bench with 7 points and the combination of Joker, AG and Jamal with 18 points. is.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, the second quarter had no such fate. The Jazz came out of the gate with a swing in the second quarter. The Nuggets came out like he didn’t know there was a game. They played a paper-thin defense and were nearly rebounded by Jared Vanderbilt in the first half (13 total for the Nuggets, 12 for the Vands), and if anyone knows how to dribble the ball Cooked by anyone.
The bench was in bad shape in the first half. They won him 35-9, and for obvious reasons. They couldn’t defend the pick and roll. They were also forcing tough shots. The second half should be better.
Jamal Murray tweaked his ankle, but came back in the game and hit a Circus 3. But that was all that worked for the Nuggets. They were the only Nuggets to score in double figures, pitching in the seventh inning each. The team shot 2/8 from downtown in the first half. What started the quarter as a 7-point deficit soon he expanded to a lead of more than 20 points and the Nuggets were down 75-53 at halftime.
After halftime, the Nuggets looked pretty locked on defense. They were doing hard closeouts, proper rotations and hustling. Nikola Jokic was dominant this quarter with 11 points. MPJ made some good hustle his plays and hit some shots. Starters looked good. They cut their lead to just 10 points.
But when the benches came in it calmed down a bit. Malone, Bones, Bruce, KCP, Davon and Jeff he decided to adopt his lineup of green small balls. It didn’t go so well, only the Nuggets went into the final frame with his 14 down. It was a promising quarter and they were right up there with Jazz.
The Nuggets tried to bounce back, but in the end it was too late. He was in the single digits in the fourth quarter but gave up 10 free throws in the final frame. Not just breaking defense in the last few minutes.
Nikola Jokic was the only reason the Nuggets were in this game from the start, but he gave up a lot of easy looks late in the game. there is.
Nikola Jokic stood out in the game, scoring 27 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals on 12/17 shooting from the field (1/3 3P, 2/2 FT). He was dominant and seemed like his normal self. Aaron Gordon also played great in steals and blocks as he scored 22 and he had 10 rebounds on 10/17 shooting.
At the end of the day, the Nuggets gave up 21 turnovers, trailing 32 points from turnovers. It was due to sloppy defense at the start of the game, his bad bench play and shot dispersion. The Nuggets made him only 5/22 from 3, while the Jazz made him 16/38 that night. It was an ugly game, but don’t worry just yet.The Nuggets have a chance to redeem themselves on national television Friday night against the Warriors.
