Utah Jazz: Three pros and cons of loss to Nuggets

Jazz allow big runs

The Jazz went on a 14 to 2 run in the third quarter, giving them their largest lead of the night. But what followed after that was inexcusable.

The Nuggets trimmed Utah’s 15 point lead down to five points, and were it not for a Jordan Clarkson floater the game would’ve been one point apart heading into the fourth quarter.

Early in the final quarter, the Nuggets held a one point lead until the Utah Jazz went on a 13 to 3 run. Then in the final six minutes of the game, Utah choked.

Jamal Murray was owning Mike Conley and making him look like a poor defender. The electric guards have been causing the Jazz trouble for a while now. Add Jamal Murray to the club of Damian Lillard, DeMar DeRozan and Eric Gordon who have each hung 30+ points on the Jazz in the last 10 days.

Murray on the season averages 17 points a game. He’s not an All-Star player, but last night the Jazz defense sure made him look like one. Luckily they were able to hold Gary Harris scoreless from the field, but they still allowed Monte Morris (an eight point per game scorer) to put up 15 points.

The Utah Jazz defense did well to hold the Nuggets under 100 points on the game, but they can’t afford a visiting, shorthanded team to make such big runs. This is ultimately the biggest failure of last night.