Ingles and Mitchell take over as Jazz hold off Nuggets' comeback for third-straight win

Benyam Kidane

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Ingles and Mitchell take over as Jazz hold off Nuggets' comeback for third-straight win image

The injury bug may have swept through Utah's point guard stocks, but Joe Ingles and Donovan Mitchell stepped up to guide the Jazz to a 111-104 win over the Denver Nuggets on the road.

Ricky Rubio and Raul Neto (both left hamstring tightness) joined Dante Exum on the sidelines, leaving the Jazz with no point guard in the rotation. Ingles did the bulk of the playmaking recording 10 assists to go with 15 points, while Mitchell led all scorers with 24 points, adding five assists and eight rebounds.


Denver opened the game with a high defensive intensity, with Jamal Murray tenaciously trapping the ball handler and limiting the Jazz's effectiveness in the pick-and-roll. They held the Jazz to just 19 points on 30% shooting from the field, however their lead after one, was just 22-19, failing to capitalise on their impressive defensive start.

Their offensive struggles spilled over into the second quarter, which allowed Utah to open the period on a 10-2 run. Denver shot just 5-of-22 from the field, including 1-of-7 from deep in the second quarter and turned the ball over seven times, allowing Utah to take a 52-37 lead into half-time.

Much of the credit must go to Rudy Gobert, who successfully disrupted the Nuggets offence to perfection, with his fantastic effort limiting Nikola Jokic in the paint and at the elbow.

It looked like it would be more of the same in the third for Denver, until Jamal Murray took over, scoring 10 of the Nuggets' first 14 points in the period. A Kyle Korver three with 6:05 remaining in the quarter extended Utah's lead to 18 points and that's when Will Barton happened.

Barton scored 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, inspiring his Nuggets teammates with his stellar defence and it was exactly what the Nuggets needed, especially as Jokic picked up his fifth foul, sending him to the bench for the rest of the quarter with 4:50 remaining.


Donovan Mitchell''s buzzer-beating three extended the Jazz lead to 11 at the end of the third quarter.


A quick 7-0 run in the fourth quarter sparked the Jazz as they looked to put the game to bed, with Kyle Korver adding a pair of threes, helping stretch the lead to 97-79 with just over six minutes remaining.

Korver finished with 22 points, connecting on six of his 10 three-point attempts. 


Just when the Nuggets looked out of it, Jokic and Millsap took over, with the latter heating up from deep, cutting the lead to 104-101 with 1:14 on the clock.

But with the game in the balance, Donovan Mitchell got to his spot and drained a deep clutch jumper to ice the game, with the Jazz holding on to secure the 111-104 win.


 

For the Nuggets, Jamal Murray and Will Barton scored 21 points each, while Jokic managed 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, despite being in foul trouble through key stretches of the game. 

With the Golden State Warriors going down to the Orlando Magic 103-96 earlier in the day, the Nuggets missed their opportunity to leapfrog their way into the #1 seed in the Western Conference. They remain second, sitting 0.5 of a game behind the defending champs.

Benyam Kidane

Benyam Kidane Photo

Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor and has been covering the league for The Sporting News since 2016. In his spare time you can find him watching Allen Iverson highlights on repeat.