There was little doubt to Nuggets coach Michael Malone that any chance of a turnaround in his second season would have to begin within his team’s own division.
This isn’t the NFL, where nearly half a team’s games are played against bitter division rivals, but winning only four of 16 Northwest Division games, as the Nuggets did a season ago, tends to be a roadblock on any postseason path.
The Nuggets continued to make progress against their so-called rivals Tuesday night, defeating the 103-93 at the .
The victory was the fifth in seven games for Denver, which improved its Northwest record to 5-7, one more victory than it had a season ago.
“It was a (heck) of a win for us,” Malone said. “They are a really good team. They were 11-4 in their last 15 games. And that’s two of the last three games for us where our defense has played really well, so that’s encouraging to me.”
The win for the Nuggets (19-25) began in familiar fashion: with a performance from that was as varied as it was effective. The second-year forward had the look of an all-star once again, flirting with a triple-double and finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Attached to the balanced stat line were the usual batch of highlight reel plays. Midway through the third quarter, Jokic fought off a Jazz defender and pulled down a defensive rebound with one hand. He pushed the ball up the court and dropped a perfect pass on the wing to , who finished in stride with a double-pump dunk. The play gave the Nuggets a 63-47 lead.
Utah stormed back in the fourth quarter, trimming a lead that had grown to as large as 17 points to 92-88 on a Boris Diaw jump shot with 2:48 left.
Then Jokic answered again. He was fouled on a tough layup inside and completed the three-point play to put the Nuggets up 97-88. , who finished with 17 points, hit a 3-pointer on the next possession, allowing Nuggets fans holding their collective breath to exhale.
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Nelson also came up with a big shot before Jokic’s three-point play that helped the Nuggets begin their closing run.
“Jameer has been there and done that,” said Nuggets forward Darrell Arthur, who had a big game of his own. “He is a player who has a great feel for the game. He made a tough shot right there and I screamed at the top of my lungs when he made that. He’s a player we know is going to get it done for us.”
The Jazz had their hearts ripped out Monday night when Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook buried a game-winning shot with 1.4 seconds remaining, and Utah arrived in Denver early Tuesday morning to play its fourth game in five days.
The Jazz looked anything but fatigued in the opening minutes, building a 22-10 lead with its trademark defensive energy. Former University of Colorado standout Alec Burks provided a spark of the bench during Utah’s early run, punctuating a lob pass with thunderous dunk and scoring six quick points.
Then the Nuggets found some fire from their own bench.
nailed three 3-pointers in 98 seconds spanning the end of the first quarter and start of the second. Arthur was so hot that Utah guard Joe Ingles overplayed Arthur’s fourth 3-point attempt and fouled him. The veteran made all three free-throw attempts, sparking a 25-7 run to end the second quarter that gave the Nuggets a 51-39 halftime lead.
Arthur finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
“Darrell Arthur saved us to start the game,” Malone said. “His energy and his shotmaking got us back into it.”
The Nuggets let their defense take over from there. Malone said before Tuesday’s game that a successful quest for a playoff spot in the Western Conference would hinge on his team becoming “an average defensive team instead of a below-average defensive team.”
Denver looked a little better than average through big stretches against the Jazz, holding Utah to 33 percent (15-of-45) shooting in the first half. The Jazz finished game shooting only 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from 3-point range.
Derrick Favors led the Jazz with 18 points.
