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- Nikola Jokic led the Denver Nuggets to a 132-121 victory over the Utah Jazz.
- Jokic recorded 36 points, 23 rebounds, and 10 assists, overshadowing Jazz's efforts.
- Jazz coach Will Hardy acknowledged team improvements but cited fatigue and turnovers.
SALT LAKE CITY — When Nikola Jokic checked back into the game with 7:28 left, the Denver Nuggets were clinging to a 2-point lead.
In quick succession, Jokic hit a 3-pointer, grabbed a defensive rebound, stole the ball, and then tallied an assist.
Just like that it was an 11-point game.
"When you're playing a really good team, that can be tough to overcome," Jazz coach Will Hardy said.
Especially against the player largely seen as the world's best. Jokic had a gaudy stat line of 36 points, 23 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Nuggets to a 132-121 win over the Jazz Monday night.
It was big box score night for the Nuggets. There was Jokic's eye-popping numbers, Russell Westbrook's own triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists; and Jamal Murray had 20 points and 10 assists.
It was the 14th time in league history where teammates logged a triple-double in the same game (Westbrook was also involved in the last one when he and LeBron James both hit the mark with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2021), and just the sixth time that three teammates had reached double-figure assist number with the last time coming in 1992.
The game, though, wasn't a blowout. But that wasn't surprising to Denver coach Michael Malone.
"This place, for years, for us, it's been a very, very tough place to play," he said. "I don't care who's available, I don't care what their record is — tremendous home court advantage, great crowd."
It proved to be once again. The Jazz led at halftime and it was a one-possession game midway through the fourth quarter. Jokic needed 34 shots to get 36 points and most of his eight offensive rebounds were on his own misses.
"I do feel like the team is really getting better, and we have a bunch of guys who are getting better," Hardy said. "I do think that, for whatever reason, our energy sort of faded as the game went and that's something and that we can control."
That likely led to the sloppy turnovers at the end. The Jazz had three giveaways in the first half and 13 in the second — three of which came during a four-possession stretch in the fourth quarter where the Nuggets took control of the game.
"I thought first half we passed the ball earlier," Hardy said. "Second half, there were some later decisions with the ball. There are also just some sloppy moments where we're too casual with the ball and passes are getting tipped."
Hardy said that when fatigue kicks in there's a tendency to take the simple plays — like passing and catching — for granted; the Nuggets took full advantage of that.
"I can remember off the top of my head, four or five were passes that, you know, touched our hands, but as they're hitting our hands, they are shooting the gap and ripping through the play," Hardy said. "It's a fine line — it's not one glaring thing. That's been one of the hardest elements of our turnovers this season is it's not one play that we're making over and over again, it's a sampler platter of turnovers."
That clouded some of the good that came on Monday — especially from some younger players. Rookie wing Cody Williams hit two 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter; rookie guard Isaiah Collier had 8 points, four rebounds and four assists; and Johnny Juzang started the game and scored 14 points.
"Cody, I think he kind of settled in a little bit in the game, hit some big-time 3s late in the game, and you see Isaiah kind of getting comfortable on the speed, getting in the paint," Jordan Clarkson said. "As a whole, we are still continuing to grow, and those guys are getting better."
Just not as good as that Jokic guy.
