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.
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.
Nonetheless, Denver’s defense had the Jazz out of tune most of the game, holding them to 42.9% shooting and blocking eight shots.
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.
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. Jamal 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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