Gary Harris scored 20 points, Jamal Murray had 19, and the host Denver Nuggets used a big fourth quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 103-88 on Saturday night.
Nikola Jokic had 16 assists and 10 rebounds, but missed a triple-double with just seven points for Denver, which outscored Utah 35-15 in the final quarter.
The Jazz, who have lost three in a row, got a scare when Donovan Mitchell was helped off the court midway through the fourth. He was favoring his left leg but returned a few minutes later.
Mitchell, who sat out Friday's loss to Memphis with a right hamstring injury he tweaked Wednesday at Minnesota, scored 16 points. Jae Crowder had 21 points for Utah (4-5).
Denver (8-1) came into the night hitting 30.4 percent of its 3-pointers and got two big ones early in the fourth quarter during an 18-0 run that turned a 77-71 deficit into an 89-77 lead halfway through the period.
Malik Beasley's 3 from the top gave the Nuggets the lead and Mason Plumlee, who had attempted just one 3-point shot all season, hit one in front of the Denver bench to beat the shot clock and make it 82-77 with 8:36 left. It was the first made 3 of his career.
Beasley, who finished with 12 points, capped the rally with another 3-pointer. In all, the Nuggets outscored the Jazz 24-3 in the game-changing run.
Denver led by a point after Murray hit a jumper midway through the third quarter, but the Jazz then surged into the lead.
Joe Ingles hit a 3-pointer to put Utah ahead, Mitchell scored on a layup and Crowder drained another 3-pointer to give the Jazz a 67-60 lead.
Rudy Gobert had consecutive dunks to make it 71-62, Utah's biggest lead of the game. Denver got within five heading into the fourth quarter.
The first half was a slugfest, with neither team leading by more than seven. No one could hit from long range, combining to go 6 of 29 from behind the arc before intermission.
The Nuggets led 47-46 at halftime.
--Field Level Media
Utah | Denver | |
Jae Crowder 21 | Scoring | Gary Harris 20 |
Joe Ingles 6 | Assists | Nikola Jokic 16 |
Rudy Gobert 12 | Rebounds | Nikola Jokic 10 |
Dante Exum 4 | Free Throws Made | Jamal Murray 4 |
Donovan Mitchell 5 | Steals | Paul Millsap 3 |
Jae Crowder 3 | Blocks | N/A |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Utah | 88 | 40.7 | 6-31 | 16-24 | 22 | 40 | 7 | 12 | 13 |
Denver | 103 | 49.4 | 9-28 | 12-19 | 32 | 48 | 0 | 8 | 17 |