In a game that very nearly became the wrong kind of slug-fest, Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz outpaced the Denver Nuggets in a Salt Lake City shoot-out.
Wednesday night’s bout between the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets was a big one in the Wild West, particularly for the home-town Jazz. Not only were two former Jazzmen returning to their original NBA digs in Paul Millsap and Trey Lyles, but it was a Mortal Kombat-esque “Test Your Might!” moment for Utah, who was facing the Northwest Division leader and conference’s No. 2 overall.
Mortal Kombat is apropos in more way than one; the emotions permeating the contest were such that it almost erupted into a slug-fest early on. More on that later — the headline here is that the Jazz somehow managed to outgun one of the league’s best offenses, dropping Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets 114-108 at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
It was Denver’s first loss to a divisional foe after entering the game 6-0, which is no small thing. That said, No. 7 was never in the cards for the Nuggs on this night; they were up against a buzzsaw.
Utah’s offense, which ranked just 20th in the league with an O-rating of 107.5 entering the game, was explosive at times against Denver. Although they made just 43 percent of their shots overall, the Jazz knocked down 19 3-point shots, one shy of the team record set earlier this season against the Golden State Warriors.
For the sixth time in his last nine games, Donovan Mitchell bested the 30-point mark. The second-year pro dropped 35 points, nailed six triples and added six boards, six dimes, two blocks and two steals to lead his squad. In a game that the Jazz won by six, they were plus-21 when their alpha dog was on the court.
For all the (deserved) talk about Rudy Gobert making the All-Star team, Mitchell may be just as deserving. He’s been the key factor in Utah winning nine of its last 11 games and hasn’t scored less than 24 in a contest since January 5.
Even with James Harden going off in Houston, he may be the best player in the conference for the month, and his game against Denver was an MVP-type performance.
The Jazz needed that level of effort given Jokic’s 28-point, 21-rebound effort. It was also big given the short-handedness of their roster. Dante Exum, Raul Neto and Thabo Sefolosha were already on the shelf to start the game; late in the first quarter, Derrick Favors was also lost when an emotional situation became physical between he and Mason Plumlee.
After Plumlee corralled an offensive board and tried to put the ball into the basket, the two got overly aggressive with one another and the officials whistled the play dead. At that point, Favors grabbed and yanked on Plumlee’s arm, which was clearly a no-no in his book and the Nuggets big man retaliated.
The fight was on.
Derrick Favors and Mason Plumlee were ejected after sparking an altercation on the court following a foul on the floor.
— ESPN (@espn) January 24, 2019
Nikola Jokic came off the bench and down the baseline, but didn’t get involved. pic.twitter.com/2QnsvjcEpA
Both players were ejected for their actions, while Royce O’Neale and Will Barton received technical fouls. Jokic faces a likely suspension for leaving the Nuggets bench during the altercation. Meanwhile, Blue-shirt Guy receives a gold star for trying to break up the fight.
The game continued to be chippy throughout; bodies were constantly hitting the floor and, at one point, Jokic got into it with Jae Crowder. To their credit, though, the Jazz never let it phase them. They continued to go about their business while the Nuggets fed into the extracurricular stuff and let themselves get taken out of the game at times.
With the win, the Jazz improved to 27-22. Next up for them is a home-and-home series with the Minnesota Timberwolves.