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The Denver Nuggets are in a tight battle for the second seed in the Western Conference in part because they haven’t beaten teams they should have defeated.

Two losses to the lowly Washington Wizards, two to the Portland Trail Blazers, and they escaped a depleted Milwaukee Bucks team on Wednesday night.

Denver (46-28) will face another mental test when it hosts the Utah Jazz on Friday night. Utah (16-58) owns the worst record in the NBA and played at home on Thursday night, so the team may be weary from a late arrival in Colorado.

The Jazz lost to Houston 121-110, their fourth setback in a row and 14th in their last 15 games.

Friday night kicks off a five-game road trip for the Jazz and continues a stretch in which they will play eight of nine games against teams holding a postseason or play-in spot.

Utah imploded in the second half against Memphis on Tuesday night, prompting coach Will Hardy to call out his team’s effort.

“At some point, every person needs to look in the mirror and understand what’s being asked of them, and try to do it to the best of their ability, at the highest level of intensity that they can,” he said.

The Jazz had a better effort Thursday but were missing some key pieces, including season scoring leaders Lauri Markkanen and John Collins. Markkanen hasn’t played since March 17 due to conditioning, while Collins has been out since March 12 because of a left ankle injury.

Both players are averaging 19 points a game. Collin Sexton (18.1) is third on the team in scoring, and Keyonte George (16.6) is fourth.

Utah announced Thursday that Jordan Clarkson is out for the rest of the season after the guard underwent a procedure to address plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

The Nuggets are dinged up but got three-time MVP Nikola Jokic back in the 127-117 win over the Bucks. He returned after missing five games with a left ankle injury and recorded his NBA-leading 30th triple-double of the season.

“I felt good. I felt much better than I thought,” Jokic said after posting 39 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. “I’m happy that we won the game, I’m happy that I feel good. So, it was good.”

Jokic is third in the NBA in scoring (29.3 points a game), third in rebounds (12.8) and second in assists (10.3). He leads Denver in those categories as well as steals (1.7). Jamal Murray is second in scoring (21.6 ppg), and Michael Porter Jr. is third (18.2).

Porter has been playing through a balky hamstring and hopes the upcoming three-day break will give him a chance to heal. After Friday night, the Nuggets don’t play again until Tuesday against Minnesota.

“I feel like it’s affecting my overall power a little bit on my shot, not being able to get as much lift,” he said. “But, yeah, I’m just trying to work through it and have it be 100 percent by the time the playoffs come around.”

–Field Level Media