Donovan Mitchell matched his season high of six 3-pointers while scoring 35 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 114-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
Ricky Rubio recorded 17 points for the Jazz, who won for the seventh time in their past eight games. Rudy Gobert had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots, Jae Crowder also scored 15 points, and Joe Ingles had 14 points and eight assists for Utah.
Nikola Jokic registered 28 points and matched his career high of 21 rebounds, and Will Barton contributed 22 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Nuggets, who lost for just the fourth time in their past 14 games. Gary Harris tallied 16 points, Trey Lyles added 12 and Monte Morris scored 10 for Denver, which dropped its eighth straight game in Salt Lake City.
Utah was 19 of 46 (41.3 percent) from 3-point range and shot 43.2 percent from the floor overall.
The Nuggets shot 47.7 percent from the field and were just 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) from 3-point range.
Rubio, Ingles and Mitchell buried 3-pointers during an 11-2 burst that saw the Jazz open up a 79-64 advantage with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
Denver trimmed its deficit back to single digits when Morris drained a 3-pointer to pull the Nuggets within 84-75 with 2:25 left in the period.
Barton knocked down a 3-pointer with 19.4 seconds left, and Denver trailed 88-80 entering the fourth quarter.
Mitchell converted a three-point play and knocked down a 3-pointer to cap an 8-0 run as Utah took a 98-86 lead with 8:11 left in the contest.
The Nuggets moved within 106-100 with four minutes left after receiving five straight points from Jokic.
The Jazz pushed their lead back to 111-102 when Crowder banked a corner 3-pointer high off the glass with 3:05 left.
Denver got within 111-107 on Barton's 3-pointer with 1:27 remaining before Utah closed it out at the foul line.
Mitchell scored 16 first-half points, and the Jazz held a 65-58 lead at the break.
Utah held a 25-14 advantage with 2:46 left in the first quarter when Jazz forward Derrick Favors and Nuggets center Mason Plumlee mixed it up underneath the basket. The ensuing shoving match led to the ejection of both players.
--Field Level Media
Denver | Utah | |
Nikola Jokic 28 | Scoring | Donovan Mitchell 35 |
Nikola Jokic 6 | Assists | Joe Ingles 8 |
Nikola Jokic 21 | Rebounds | Rudy Gobert 10 |
Nikola Jokic 7 | Free Throws Made | Rudy Gobert 7 |
Torrey Craig 2 | Steals | Royce O'Neale 3 |
Torrey Craig 4 | Blocks | Rudy Gobert 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Denver | 108 | 47.7 | 8-27 | 16-20 | 20 | 50 | 9 | 7 | 16 |
Utah | 114 | 43.2 | 19-46 | 19-27 | 28 | 40 | 7 | 7 | 13 |