Down one at the end of the first quarter, the Nuggets now have the lead. Sitting on a score of 63-53, they have looked like the better team, but there's still two more quarters to play. If the Nuggets keep playing like this,

Wednesday night proved to be yet another uphill climb, as the Denver Nuggets came to town to match up against a shorthanded Jazz squad on the second night of a back-to-back. Without key leaders in Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson, Utah fell 122-103 to Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets.

Defensively, the Nuggets corrected a couple of the key problems that have plagued them recently, evoking Michael Malone’s rage on Monday. They won the paint 64-38 and outscored the Jazz 33-9 in transition, two nights after Malone called Denver a “one-way running team.” Utah was held to 18 points in the second quarter and 23 in the third.