Gobert Too Much To Handle: Nuggets Fall To Jazz 98-84

118. Final. 84. 73. 98

Going into this April Fool’s Day matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz, there were no shortages of storylines. This would be a chance for newly signed Nugget Ian Clark to get some revenge on his former team who just cut him days ago before Denver scooped him up. In addition to that, everyone was looking forward to the matchup of Melvin Hunt’s small ball strategy and Utah’s newest sensation — the ‘Stifle Tower’ Rudy Gobert.

At the beginning of the game, it seemed that neither side was able to get out to much of a lead as both sides stayed pretty close up until the last few minutes going on a 10-2 to end the quarter with a 29-22 lead. The quarter was dominated by Kenneth Faried, who lead the team in scoring with nine points and two rebounds, and a couple clutch shots from Will Barton and Jameer Nelson. Unfortunately that 10-2 run would be the only bright spot for the Nuggets until halftime.

The combo of Gobert and Derrick Favors proved that you cannot coach size as the duo dominated the rest of the half, combining for 22 points and 7 rebounds. Utah jumped out to a very large lead thanks to a 30-9 run to start the second quarter. The Nuggets tried to fight back and ended up making up some ground by ending the half with a score of 54-42, Utah. What was most shocking about the game so far was the disappearance of Gordon Hayward, who only had one point going into halftime.

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Things seemed to go from bad to worse for the Nuggets in the third quarter as they were outscored 27-17 and fell deeper into a hole as the deficit climbed to 22 points by the end of the third. Hayward finally came alive to the tune of 12 points. On the other side, Faried notched a double-double before the end of the quarter but, Wilson Chandler was held scoreless through three as the team shot an abysmal 6-29 from the three-point line.

It was a case of too little too late for the Nuggets in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Jazz 25-17. Will Barton was the leader in the fourth quarter by scoring eight of his 13 points before the final buzzer. The large lead built by the Jazz in the second and third quarters proved to be just too much for the undersized Nuggets who ultimately fell 98-84.

This loss pushes Denver to a dismal 28-47 on the year and does not look good for interim head coach Melvin Hunt. His experiment of putting Kenneth Faried at the five has failed horribly so far. It is absolutely appalling that Yusuf Nurkic is not starting, especially given where the team is on the season. Lottery-bound for a second straight year, it is time to let the kid play. What is the worst that could happen? He gains valuable minutes in a season that is virtually pointless now. So what if he turns it over a lot and picks up fouls at this point in the season? It will only improve our chances of a higher pick and help develop the future of the team.

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