Nikola Jokic had 33 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists, Cam Johnson made a go-ahead 3-pointer late in the fourth, and the host Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Utah Jazz, 135-129, on Friday night.
Jamal Murray finished with 31 points, including six in the final 1:15, and 14 assists to help Denver (47-28) win its fifth in a row. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 21 points, Aaron Gordon had 17 and Johnson finished with 12 for the Nuggets
Kyle Filipowski scored 25 points, Cody Williams contributed 24 points, John Konchar and Kennedy Chandler had 16 apiece off the bench, Ace Bailey added 15 and Elijah Harkless had 11 points for Utah (21-53), which led most of the second half.
Denver didn’t score for nearly three minutes at the start of the fourth but trimmed the lead to 110-104 on a Hardaway 3-pointer. The Jazz responded with a 10-3 run to lead by 13 with 6:49 left.
The Nuggets rallied, getting a 3-pointer by Murray, a dunk from Gordon and two free throws by Hardaway to make it 124-121 with 4:02 remaining.
Bailey hit a jumper to make it a five-point game, but Jokic hit a turnaround and Johnson a corner 3-pointer to tie it.
It was 129-all when Johnson hit a corner three, the Jazz turned it over and Murray made another from deep with 18.7 seconds to go.
The Nuggets led by 12 late in the first quarter but Utah rallied with a strong second quarter. Chandler came off the bench with seven points, including the first 3-pointer for the Jazz after 10 straight misses to begin the game.
Denver was ahead 59-53 late in the second but Utah closed on a 9-3 run to tie it at 62 at halftime.
The Jazz remained hot in the third quarter, building a 10-point lead on a Konchar tip midway through the period. They capitalized on eight Nuggets turnovers to go ahead 96-82, but Hardaway scored six consecutive points during an 8-0 run. Utah pushed the lead back to 10 before Jokic banked in a 39-footer at the buzzer to make it 105-98 as they headed into the fourth.
–Field Level Media
