Seven Nuggets finished in double-figures and Denver drained 24 3-pointers, which tied a franchise record, in a 135-112 rout of the Utah Jazz in a game that was never close.
The Nuggets outscored the Jazz 40-15 in the 1st quarter and never looked back. Jamal Murray led all Nuggets scorers with 27 points. Cam Johnson finished with 20 and was a perfect 6-6 from 3-point range. Nikola Jokic added a 14-point, 13-rebound, 13-assist triple-double and Tim Hardaway Jr. chipped in 21 points off the bench.
The Nuggets starters didn’t even need to play the 4th quarter — which is big with a back-to-back tomorrow in Dallas.
Here’s what stood out from the game.
Historic 1st quarter
The Nuggets made history in the 1st quarter tonight. First, Denver got off to a 19-0 lead. Incredible. Then, the Nuggets opened up a 30-5 advantage. Absolutely Insane.
The 19-0 start set a record for the largest scoreless run to begin a game since 1996-97 (when the play-by-play era began.)
This game felt over before it really even began, but the Nuggets needed it after the offensive outage they experienced two nights ago vs. the Rockets. The Nuggets hit 15 3s in the 1st half tonight vs. the Jazz. That was almost double the 8 triples they tallied against the Rockets.
Jamal Murray, Cam Johnson, Peyton Watson catch fire
Everyone got their numbers in the 1st half vs. Utah, especially Murray and Johnson. Flurries arrived at Ball Arena mid-way through the 1st quarter and Murray finished the 1st half with 18 points. Johnson had 15 points at the break on a perfect 5-5 shooting from 3-point range. Watson also finished the 1st half in double-figures with 12.
Overall, the Nuggets racked up 69 1st half points and held the Jazz to 46 points on 16-48 shooting.
The leading scorer for Utah at halftime? Lauri Markkanen with 9.