Jazz at Nuggets
Two of the better teams in the Western Conference square off Thursday when the Denver Nuggets host the Utah Jazz. The two squads share the third-best record in the West as they meet for the first of four times over the final 35 games of the season.
The Jazz were superb by winning 19 of 21 games but their defense has suddenly gone missing in back-to-back setbacks against the Houston Rockets (126-117 on Monday) and San Antonio Spurs (127-120 on Wednesday). "The past two games we really haven't guarded well," Utah star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell told reporters afterward. "We've just got to get that attitude back that we've had for the past month-and-a-half. You can't start out slow and expect to come back every single game." Denver won eight of 11 contests before suffering a 104-96 road loss against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and the setback ended a stretch of 24 games of scoring 100 or more points. "We had a lot of failed possessions," Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic told the media afterward. "Defense was not what it was supposed to be. We were living in the paint. They would blow by us."
TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: TNT, Sportsnet One
ABOUT THE JAZZ (32-15): Utah allowed 70 first-half points on Wednesday and never got a handle on Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan (season-best 38 points) while allowing San Antonio to shoot 56.1 percent from the field. Mitchell scored 31 points to top 20 for the eighth consecutive time and is averaging 29.1 points during the stretch. Backup guard Jordan Clarkson tallied 20 off the bench while center Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 19 rebounds for his 11th straight double-double.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (32-15): A hard-nosed Denver squad didn't have its typical passion in the loss to Memphis while being outscored a stunning 76-22 in the paint and coach Michael Malone sensed troubles from the outset. "It's unfortunate," Malone told reporters "These are the dog days, we have eight games to go until the All-Star break. Everyone's tired, everyone's beat up, but we've got to be mentally tough." The Nuggets have been short-handed in recent weeks and point guard Jamal Murray (ankle) will miss his eighth straight game while power forward Paul Millsap (knee) is expected to sit out for the 12th consecutive contest.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz have won the past three meetings.
2. Utah SF Bojan Bogdanovic is 26-of-54 from 3-point range over the past six games.
3. Denver PF Jerami Grant has recorded back-to-back 20-point efforts and is averaging 18.7 over the past six games.