DENVER — The Utah Jazz shocked everyone when they beat reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on opening night.
Heading into Denver on Friday night with a 4-1 record, it was all but certain that the Nuggets were going to be looking to exact revenge.
That’s exactly what happened as Bones Hyland and Michael Porter Jr. combined for 48 points to lead the Nuggets past the Jazz, 117-101.
What went wrong?
Well, the Nuggets pretty much dictated how the game was going to be played. They got the shots they wanted, making an incredible 17-of-37 from 3-point range. Denver played at the pace it wanted, slowing the Jazz down, and benefited from a poor Jazz shooting night.
Rebounding, though, was particularly harmful for the Jazz, with the Nuggets pulling down 58 boards to the Jazz’s 38.
What was even worse for the Jazz was their inability to close out possessions. When the Nuggets were missing shots, they were crashing the boards relentlessly, pulling down 17 offensive rebounds and earning themselves 19 second-chance points.
“They did a good job of rebounding their own misses on some interior shots,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “We had a good first-shot defense on the inside, and then their length hurt us a little bit — tipping some balls to themselves — and we just weren’t able to come up with the rebounds defensively.
“As much as we’ve emphasized offensive rebounding and doing that as a group, I think we need to continue to emphasize doing it on the defensive end, especially when we’re playing some smaller lineups.”
The Nuggets led by as many as 29 points, and although the Jazz bench made a good run to get the game back to single digits, the Nuggets didn’t seem to have to try too hard to put the game out of reach once again.
Finally, Hardy waved the white flag with 8:29 left to play, trailing by 25, emptying the bench.
Illness + injury + losing = opportunity
Prior to the end-of-bench group checking in for the final stretch of the game, there was some extra opportunity for minutes on Friday night.
Rudy Gay and Simone Fontecchio are in the league’s COVID health and safety protocol, Walker Kessler was not feeling well and didn’t make the trip to Denver and although Collin Sexton was able to play (he was questionable earlier in the day with a left oblique contusion), he found himself in foul trouble.
All of that to say that the Jazz finally got to get a better look at Leandro Bolmaro and rookie Ochai Agbaji in some extended minutes.
“I was really, really happy with them,” Hardy said. “Those guys work really hard. They play a lot at practice and on off days to stay sharp, because they haven’t been getting a ton of game minutes.
“I thought they executed the way we want to play very well, thought they competed on the defensive end, they got out in transition, they tried to share the ball. There are some talented young players in that group.”
Agbaji showed a little bit of his athleticism and made some really good off-ball reads when cutting to the basket. He wasn’t afraid of contact and he looked pretty comfortable for his first extended run.
Bolmaro was one of the few bright spots when it came to getting the game back to the Jazz’s pace. He’s lightning quick and he makes really smart and fast decisions despite seemingly going at 100 miles per hour all the time.
Once the bench cleared, Udoka Azubuike made his season debut, playing for the first time since having ankle surgery last season.
Two-way center/forward Micah Potter also made his Jazz debut.
Busy Bones
Hyland has had a bit of a rough start to the season in Denver. His efficiency and productivity are down compared to last season, and he averaged just 9.2 points in the Nuggets’ first five games.
But he looked velvety smooth and perfectly in rhythm on Friday night against the Jazz. Hyland finished the night with a game-high 26 points off the bench, having shot an incredible 7-of-12 from deep.
Denver has been waiting for Hyland to break out of what has felt like a slump, and for him to be more active.
There’s still some room for him to impact the game more on the defensive side and there’s some decision-making that sometimes seems questionable, but when the guy is shooting the lights out and looks absolutely unstoppable, you live with all the other stuff and let him cook.