SALT LAKE CITY -- Once Gordon Hayward finds his shot, defenses have as much success holding back the barrage of points as a mouse has preventing a cat from pouncing on it in an open field.

The Utah forward toyed with Denver's defense in a cat-like manner during the third quarter of a 105-98 Jazz victory over the Nuggets on Saturday night. He stalked his prey with lethal precision and struck from all over the floor. There wasn't a thing Denver could do defensively to escape his grasp.

By the time the quarter ended, Hayward had dropped 21 points on the Nuggets. He finished with 32 points on 9-of-18 shooting, matching his season high.

For his part, Hayward credited his teammates with setting a more aggressive tone on defense which then opened things up for him on offense.

"We just played with more energy," Hayward said. "We found it within ourselves to play with some bounce and a little pep in our step. We were more active. When we play like that, it's a lot tougher on the other team. They weren't able to run and get stuff in transition."

Rodney Hood added 15 points and Trey Lyles chipped in 12 points off the bench for Utah. The Jazz (12-9) beat the Nuggets for the sixth time in their last seven meetings.

Will Barton and Wilson Chandler each scored 20 points to lead the Nuggets.

Denver (7-13) could not overcome 14 turnovers that led to 14 points for Utah and cold shooting in the third quarter. The Nuggets lost their third straight and for the fifth time in six games - although it wasn't for a lack of effort after Denver rallied late from a double-digit deficit.

"I'm happy we showed a lot of fight and heart getting back in the game, not dropping our heads and feeling sorry for ourselves," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "Hopefully, that can give us a little juice going forward."

Trailing 94-71 after a 3-pointer from Joe Johnson, the Nuggets outscored Utah 23-5 during a seven-minute stretch to get back in the game. Barton drilled a 3-pointer and Kenneth Faried followed with a layup on the next possession to cap the run and cut the Jazz lead to 99-94 with 1:51 left.

The Nuggets could not get any closer. Hayward and Shelvin Mack combined for six free throws in the final minute to ice the win for Utah. As a team, the Jazz shot 92.9 percent (26 of 28) from the free throw line.

"We started out in the first half doing all the right things," Chandler said. "It was in the third quarter we kind of got away from that - everybody, not just one person. We had to climb uphill and exert so much energy. It's hard to fight back from a 20-point deficit and get the win."

The Jazz opened the second half on a 15-5 run -- highlighted by back-to-back driving layups from Hayward -- to take a 64-52 lead midway through the third quarter.

Once Hayward heated up in the second half, Denver could not cool him down. He scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field in the quarter and found shots from everywhere on the floor. From backdoor layups to long jumpers, he torched the Nuggets' defense in countless ways and effectively crushed their defensive spirit.

"They got hot," Chandler said. "They came out aggressive on both ends of the floor. They were pressing up on us and made everything tough on the offensive end for us. Then, when we were on defense, they just made shots. They got everything they wanted."

Hayward capped his quarter-long outburst with a running dunk in the final seconds of the third quarter to give Utah an 82-63 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Jazz coach Quin Snyder credited Hayward's offensive explosion to also being active on the defensive end.

"The biggest thing Gordon's been doing is he's been defending and, as a result, he's getting some things out in transition and getting some easy baskets," Snyder said.

Denver played with much more energy in the first quarter than during its last trip to Salt Lake City. It helped the Nuggets keep the Jazz from blowing the game open before halftime.

Denver stayed aggressive in the paint and was active in forcing early turnovers. It helped the Nuggets take a 19-16 lead with 3:06 left in the quarter behind a 3-point play from Danilo Gallinari.

Utah went ahead again on a layup from Joe Ingles and a jumper from Boris Diaw on back-to-back possessions. The Jazz eventually built a 29-23 lead early in the second quarter after Hood completed a three-point play to finish off a 13-4 run.

Chandler kept Utah from pulling away further. He scored a fade-away jumper to halt the run, stole the ball to set up a 3-point play from Faried and made a finger-roll layup to tie it. A jumper from Barton a minute later gave the Nuggets a 37-35 lead with 6:44 remaining in the half.

Utah charged back ahead again when Ingles sank a 3-pointer and Rudy Gobert threw down an alley oop dunk on back-to-back possessions to make it 44-39. The Jazz did not trail the rest of the second quarter.

"It's been a little tough with the different lineups," Hood said. "But the number one thing is we're playing hard and we're playing together. This is the biggest thing we're try to make constant - just playing hard and playing together regardless of who is out there."

NOTES: Utah G George Hill missed his second straight game with a sprained left big toe. Hill has missed 10 games this season because of injuries. ... Denver C Nikola Jokic missed his second straight game because of a left wrist sprain. ... Nuggets F Kenneth Faried currently averages the most rebounds of any NBA player logging 25 minutes or less per game. Through Denver's first 20 games, Faried is pulling down 9.1 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. ... C Rudy Gobert is the first Jazz player to average a double-double through the first 20 games of a season since Al Jefferson did it in 2012-13. Gobert is averaging 10.6 points and 11.1 rebounds in his first 21 games.