If a championship hangover is in the offing for the Nuggets, it hasn’t shown up yet.
While their 110-102 victory over Utah Monday night wasn’t always pretty, the Nuggets took care of business when it counted and have opened the season 4-0 for the sixth time in franchise history and the first time since 2018.
Through the first four games, Denver has trailed for just four minutes, 33 seconds, of play. The Nuggets trailed for only 16 seconds Monday night, 3-2, in the opening minute of the game.
Asked if the Nuggets have remained hungry and are playing with a chip on their shoulder because some critics don’t see them repeating, guard Jamal Murray said, simply, “For sure.”
The Nuggets, playing back-to-back games after blowing out the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Sunday, seemed on the verge of blowing out Utah a number of times but never put together a sustained run, in part because their free-throw shooting (7 for 17) was so bad.
“It wasn’t always pretty but we found a way,” coach Michael Malone said. “For three quarters we defended at a high level, but that team stayed around because we did not defend well in the fourth quarter.
“They scored 33 points and (shot) 56% in the fourth quarter and we had four turnovers that led to 11 points. So we kept them in it with that. And our rebounding wasn’t anywhere close to where it needs to be. They had 17 offensive rebounds tonight.”
Nonetheless, Denver’s defense had the Jazz out of tune most of the game, holding them to 42.9% shooting and blocking eight shots. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, whom Malone is promoting as one of the NBA’s best defensive players, was named defensive player of the game for the fourth time this season.
Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon, both playing in their 600th career game, led the way for Denver, scoring 27 and 20 points, respectively. Jokic added 11 assists and 10 rebounds to record his second triple-double of the season and the 107th of his career, tying LeBron James and Jason Kidd for fourth on the all-time list.
“I’ve said this for a few years now that I’ve learned to never take Nikola for granted,” Malone said. “It speaks to his greatness and speaks to his consistency. Night in and night out he plays the game at a very high level.
“And I think the one thing that you can compare with Nikola and LeBron is the ability to make everyone around them better. That truly is the definition of greatness, in my opinion.”
The Jazz cut the lead to 85-80 with 9:06 left in the game on Collin Sexton’s 3-pointer, but Denver responded with an 8-2 run punctuated by two breakaway dunks by Gordon.
Utah came back again, cutting the lead to 103-98 with 1:46 left but Jokic powered inside for a layup and was fouled, making the free throw to complete the three-point play.
Utah All-Star power forward Lauri Markkanen led Utah with 27 points, scoring both inside and outside.
The statistic that stood out in the first half was the Nuggets’ five blocked shots, part of the reason the Jazz went into the locker room trailing 58-45 after shooting just 37% from the floor and making just 6 of 11 foul shots.
Denver led 31-21 after the first quarter, stifling the Jazz with some sticky defense and putting on a clinic on the offensive end.
The Nuggets shot 59.1% (13 for 22) in the quarter vs. 36.4% for the Jazz. Murray (18 points, 14 assists) led the way on both ends of the floor, scoring nine points and blocking two shots. The quarter’s highlight was a gorgeous give-and-go from Jokic to Murray, with Murray finishing with a one-handed, scooping layup.
The Nuggets next travel to Minnesota for a game Wednesday night.
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