Nikola Jokic had 27 points and 14 returns, Michael Porter Jr got 20 points and the values Denver Nuggets directed the short hand Utah Jazz 129-93 on Friday night.
Russell Westbrook had 17 points and Christian Braun contributed 16 for Denver (47-28), which increased the lead for the third seed in the Western conference to two matches over the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
Collin sixteen got 20 points to lead Utah (16-59), Kyle Filipowski finished with 18 points and 13 returns and Keyonte George got 18 points.
Nugget’s guard Jamal Murray was inactive due to density in his right hamstring and Utah were without their two best scores, Lauri Markkanen (Conditioning) and John Collins (left ankle reinforcement).
The jazz stopped within eight halfway through the second half before Denver began to pull away. Peyton Watson thumped by a feed from Jokic, threw home Aaron Gordons missed 17 foot foot and then finished his movement of cans with one of a steal by Jokic to help drive Denver lead to 15 points.
Utah lowered it to 75-63 on a 3-pointer from SVI Mykhailiuk, but Nuggets ended the quarter on an 11-2 driving, with NNAJI who rejected a layout attempt by Isaiah Collier in the last seconds to give Nuggets an 86-65 lead in the fourth.
Nuggets led by as much as 41 during the fourth quarter, outsourcing jazz 32-12 to open the last period on the way to the victory.
Denver led by 15 during the first quarter, but the scary jazz closed the gap during the second quarter. They held the nuggets to a field goal for more than four minutes and came within 39-37 with 4:55 left.
It was 54-47 after Sexton’s layout but Jokic met a 59-foot heave at the summer to give Denver a lead of 57-47 half-time.
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