Nuggets 113, Jazz 96: Danilo Gallinari led seven players in double figures with 21 points and Kenneth Faried added 19 and eight rebounds as visiting Denver halted Utah's five-game winning streak.
Rookie Evan Fournier scored 18 points and Kosta Koufos had 13 boards for the Nuggets. Denver (51-24) is batting Memphis (51-24) and the Los Angeles Clippers (50-26) for the third spot in the Western Conference playoff picture.
Gordon Hayward contributed 18 points, Al Jefferson recorded 16 and nine boards and Paul Millsap also scored 16 points for the Jazz, who are 2-1 on their four-game homestand. Utah fell a half-game behind the idle Los Angeles Lakers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
Denver closed the first quarter with an 11-4 run that created a five-point lead. The Nuggets held the same advantage at the break and expanded it to 16 on a layup by Faried with 4:11 remaining in the third before entering the fourth with an 81-68 cushion.
Wilson Chandler hit a jumper with 6:07 left in the final quarter to cap an 8-0 surge and give Denver a 99-79 lead. Fournier's 3-pointer with 1:05 to play created the Nuggets' largest advantage at 113-92 before Alec Burks scored the game's final four points for the Jazz.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Denver was 41-for-73 (56.2 percent) from the field, with Faried and Fournier going a combined 15-for-19. ... Utah G Mo Williams scored just four points on 2-of-12 shooting after registering at least 20 points in each of his previous three games. ... The Nuggets snapped their three-game losing streak in Utah.
Denver | Utah | |
Danilo Gallinari 21 | Scoring | Gordon Hayward 18 |
Andre Iguodala 6 | Assists | Mo Williams 7 |
Kosta Koufos 13 | Rebounds | Al Jefferson 9 |
Danilo Gallinari 7 | Free Throws Made | Paul Millsap 4 |
Evan Fournier 3 | Steals | Alec Burks 2 |
Wilson Chandler 2 | Blocks | Alec Burks 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Denver | 113 | 56.2 | 7-18 | 24-32 | 22 | 42 | 8 | 7 | 14 |
Utah | 96 | 46.4 | 6-20 | 12-18 | 25 | 33 | 4 | 7 | 10 |