It was a let down against the Jazz Thursday night, but luckily the Denver Nuggets don’t have long before they get a chance to right the ship against the Pelicans. Here are 3 things to watch.
It was a rough one for the Denver Nuggets Thursday night.
Coming off the heels of a big win over Oklahoma City Tuesday — and after watching both the Warriors and Thunder lose before them Thursday — the Nuggets couldn’t get it done over a short-handed Jazz team.
Utah was without a true point guard in Denver, being down Ricky Rubio, Dante Exum and Raul Neto.
But that didn’t stop an inspired Utah squad that shutdown Denver’s offense at times. The Jazz held the Nuggets to just 15 points in the second quarter, leading to just a 37-point first half — their second-lowest scoring first half this season.
37 points is the fewest Denver has scored in a first half this year. Previous low was 39 vs. Toronto.
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) March 1, 2019
Rudy Gobert finally got the best of Jokic after Jokic dominated in the other two matchups this season. Jokic dished out 16 assists in the first time the two squared off, then put up 28 points, 21 rebounds and six assists in the second.
Paul Millsap finally came back down to earth, posting a respectable 15 points and five rebounds — but a bit off the 18.75 points and 13 rebounds he’d averaged over the previous four.
When it was all said and done, it resulted in a 111-104 Jazz win. But in the end, all the Nuggets lost was an opportunity. With a win, they could have regained the top spot in the west.
But with OKC and Golden State losing, the Nuggets, at 42-19, are still just a half-game behind the Warriors and four games up on the Thunder for the No. 2 seed.
But now they must shift their focus to a Pelicans team that is still in the middle of the Anthony Davis whirlwind.
Here are 3 things to watch.