Serbian center Nikola Jokic achieved his ninth triple-double of the season, but this was not enough to prevent his Denver Nuggets fell defeated by 102-125 against the Utah Jazz, led by their star Donovan Mitchell, this Sunday in the NBA.
Jokic, current NBA Most Valuable Player, registered 25 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists, to be the undisputed leader of the Nuggets, adding his second triple-double on consecutive nights.
The Serbian pivot, who shot 10-for-18 from the field, including two triples in five attempts, with the triple-double this Sunday, achieved against the Jazz, records 66 in his career in the league, being the fourth fastest to reach this amount in NBA history.
Mitchell, despite getting into foul trouble, committing two in the first five minutes of the game, kept the stability of his game and as usual brought out his offensive ability to conclude with 31 points, five rebounds and four assists, to be the leading scorer for the Jazz.
The French pivot, Rudy Gobert, was another who had a great performance for the winners, scoring 18 points and recovering 19 rebounds, being an important factor on both ends of the floor.
The Denver team also had Aaron Gordon, who finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while the Argentine Facundo Campazzo, left with two goals, a rebound and an assist in almost 19 minutes on the court.
Jazz sounds better in the first half
The Nuggets started the game with an 8-0 run in the first two and a half minutes of the game and went 15-8 in the first four, with Aaron Gordon calling the shots with nine points.
Those from Utah, who had their star Donovan Mitchell in foul trouble, committing two in the opening minutes of the game, they responded with an 8-3 run, led by the combination of Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert, closing in on the scoreboard at 16-18.
From this point, Jordan Clarkson took the reins of the Jazz scoring 12 units, shooting 3-4 from the three-point line, including a three-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining to end these first 12 minutes of the game, giving the lead 33-37 to those led by Quin Snyder.
In the second room, those from Utah continued to show an effective attack, distributed by Mike Conley, in which they developed a 12-3 run in the first five minutes of this period, which saw Jokic and other Denver players calling fouls on the referees.
With the score 38-47, Jokic was back in action, scoring two points, then assisting Monte Morris for a three-point shot and Gordon for two points in the paint, to bring his team closer (45-49).
After a dunk from Gordon, those from Denver got closer by two points (53-55), but Mitchell appeared scoring a triple that, was followed by another two-point shot from Bogdanovic, which got Utah back on the scoreboard.
The first half of the game finished with a 10-point lead (58-68) for Utah, led by 15 points from Mitchell and 13 from Bojan Bogdanovic.
In those first 24 minutes of action Jokic was already on his way to his second consecutive triple-double, accumulating 18 points, with six rebounds and six assists, being seconded by Gordon, who until then had 16 points.
fight to return
Already in the third half of the match, the Nuggets refused to leave the contention for the victory and with a Jokic, more of a distributor and defender than an offensive plan, adding five points, five assists and five rebounds, playing all 12 minutes of the quarter. In this the Nuggets ran 21-7 and those led by Mike Malone, after a layup by Will Barton, who was fouled on the play and made the free throw, took the lead (81-80), with 3 remaining: 27 to play.
After the draw, both teams remained in an exchange of baskets and leadership, which culminated when Mitchell took the ball and scored the last four points of the third period, to leave the Utah team ahead (88-91).
Tiredness caught up with them
Going into the final quarter of the game, the Nuggets, evidently worn down by the exertion of a tough third quarter, a factor that added to their games on nights in a row, they could not keep up with the Jazz, who started with an 11-0 rally, which practically put the aspirations of the Denver team on the ground, who were widely outnumbered (34-14) in these last 12 minutes, which defined the match.
With this victory (102-125) the Jazz take a breath of oxygen, leaving behind a streak of four consecutive losses.
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