Jazz at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are off to their best start in 42 years and look to add another victory when they host the Utah Jazz on Saturday. Denver's 7-1 run is the franchise's top beginning to a campaign since the 1976-77 squad won eight straight to open a 50-win season.
The Nuggets have won three consecutive games after routing Cleveland 110-91 on Thursday, but coach Michael Malone is cautious about the chatter claiming his team has arrived. "The minute we start thinking we've done something is (when) we're going to set ourselves up for failure," Malone told reporters. "We've gotten to this point by working hard, by getting better every day. If we continue to do that throughout the course of the season, we'll put ourselves in a position to have real success, and for us the only real success is gonna be measured by the postseason." Utah star guard Donovan Mitchell (hamstring) will be a game-time decision after missing Friday's 110-100 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Mitchell averaged 26.5 points over his past four games and is averaging 23.3 overall.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Utah), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (4-4): Rookie guard Grayson Allen made his first career start with Mitchell sidelined and scored nine points in 27 minutes. "It gives me a lot of experience as I'm playing eight, nine, maybe 10 minutes (as a reserve)," Allen told reporters afterward. "I can build on that. I will have a lot of film to watch to dissect and see what I did right and what I did wrong." Inconsistent point guard Ricky Rubio scored 22 points against the Grizzlies and he has topped 20 in two of the past six games - and scored six or fewer in each of the other four.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (7-1): Denver had a surprise hero against Cleveland in backup forward Juancho Hernangomez, who scored a season-high 23 points after entering the contest with just 22 for the season. Hernangomez knocked down five 3-pointers and sparked the team in his best performance since scoring 27 points against Golden State during the 2016-17 season. "I just tried to help the team," Hernangomez told reporters. "This is our team. We have a deep team. Everybody on the bench can help the team."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz have dropped their last four visits to Denver.
2. Denver star C Nikola Jokic, who has topped 20 points on five occasions, tallied a season-low four against the Cavaliers.
3. Utah SF Jae Crowder has scored a season-best 18 points in each of the last two games and is 9-for-16 from 3-point range during the stretch.