Utah Jazz edge Denver Nuggets in a close game to stay undefeated at home – NBA Recap
The Utah Jazz continued to stay in competition in the Western Conference when they defeated the Denver Nuggets 105-103 here on Monday night in Salt Lake City. The Jazz were dominated by the Nuggets in the first period but came back in the third, where they outscored the Nuggets 30-19 and eventually took the victory in this high scoring game. Al Jefferson finished with 28 points and 5 rebounds to lead the Jazz, where as Derrick Favors came off the bench to score 19 points and 7 rebounds. Kenneth Faried had 21 points and 9 rebounds for the Nuggets, and Ty Lawson finished with 16 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.
The Nuggets were their usual explosive self to start the game, scoring 9 quick points to take an early 13-8 lead. A layup by Corey Brewer had them up 19-12, and the Nuggets later put up another 8-2 run to take a 27-17 lead. The Nuggets led 35-24 at the end of the first half.
Timofey Mozgov made a layup in the second period to have the Nuggets leading 41-29, but the jazz came right back with a three by Earl Watson to trail 36-43. A Favors layup later had the Jazz down by only four, but the Nuggets compiled an 8-0 run to stretch their lead back to 53-41. Two free throws by Danilo Gallinari had the Nuggets leading by 16, but the Jazz finished the period on a 9-4 run and trailed 54-65 at the half time break.
Utah started the third period on a 6-0 run, and Marvin Williams later scored a three pointer to have the Jazz trailing 63-71. Utah went on a 14-0 run later in the period, with back to back three pointers by Randy Foye and Williams tying the game at 77, and the Jazz then scoring two more to take a 79-77 lead. Two free throws by Andre Miller tied the game at 81, and the game remained tied at 84 at the end of the third period.
The final quarter was toughly contested, with Favors putting the Jazz up by two through a dunk but Faried replying instantly with a dunk to tie the game at 91. Back to back free throws by Jamaal Tinsley and Favors gave the Jazz a 97-93 lead, but a layup by Faried followed by a layup by Lawson had the scores tied at 100. Favors then hit two free throws to put the Jazz up 104-102, but Miller missed a game winning three as Utah took the 105-103 victory in the end.
Denver shot 54.8 percent from the field compared to 46.2 percent for Utah, and outscored them 38-31 in rebounds. However, they had 5 more turnovers at 17 and shot 18 of 32 from the foul line.
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