Utah Jazz take 3-1 series lead on Denver Nuggets with clutch victory

SALT LAKE CITY — It was drastically different from the previous two games in which the Utah Jazz won by 19 and 37 points, respectively, but they were clutch down the stretch Sunday night in Orlando and once again beat the Denver Nuggets in their first-round playoff series.

This time, the Jazz came out on top 129-127 to take a 3-1 lead in the series. They can close it out in Game 5 on Tuesday.

Donovan Mitchell scored 18 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 51, becoming just the third player in NBA history to score at least 50 points in two games in a playoff series, joining Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.

“You could say a lot about what he did tonight,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. “He was terrific, and he’s a terrific player. The way that he answered everything that was going on, even early, and was able to pick his spots, hit tough shots, he’s playing with a level of confidence right now that is very high.”

Whereas Mitchell’s 57 points came in vain in Game 1 as Utah lost a close one, this time the Jazz made the plays needed in the closing minutes to get the win. Up by 11 early in the fourth quarter, Utah allowed the Nuggets to climb back in it, albeit due to tremendous shotmaking from guard Jamal Murray, who finished with 50 points (it was the first time in NBA playoff history that opposing players scored at least 45 in the same game).

“First off, that particular game in itself was probably the most important game in the series for us,” Mitchell said. “They came out and fought. I’ve got to give them credit and their coaching staff. They made a lot of good adjustments.”

With 4:47 remaining, a Murray 3-pointer cut the Denver deficit to one at 109-108. Just 45 seconds later, a huge sequence occurred as Jazz guard Mike Conley deflected a pass and Mitchell started a fast break, with Conley running the floor. With Conley uncontested, former Jazzman Paul Millsap fouled Mitchell, and it was ruled a clear path foul, meaning Utah got two free throws and the ball.

Mitchell made both free throws and Conley scored on the ensuing possession, stretching the Jazz’s advantage to five with 3:54 to play.

The Nuggets were far from done, however. Center Nikola Jokic made a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to two, and the teams went back-and-forth for the next three minutes. 

Really, it was Denver against Mitchell, as the Jazz All-Star scored his team’s next 13 points, with a dead-eye 3-pointer over Millsap with 54.1 seconds to go putting Utah up four at 122-118. 

Then inside of 25 seconds to go and the Jazz up 124-120, Murray drove to the rim, where he was met by Utah’s other All-Star, center Rudy Gobert. The two-time reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year stonewalled Murray, the Jazz got the ball, and the Nuggets were forced to foul Mitchell.

He sank two free throws to give him 50 points on the night, and the game was effectively out of reach for Denver from there.

Beside Mitchell’s 51, Conley scored 26, Jordan Clarkson had 24 off the bench, including a bunch in the first half as he carried Utah. Gobert finished with 17 and 11 rebounds.

The Jazz shot 58 percent from the field and made 48 percent of their 3-pointers after a bit of a slow start from distance. Utah made 19 more free throws than the Nuggets.

Beside Murray’s 50 points, Jokic scored 29, Millsap 16 and Jerami Grant 12. Grant and Monte Morris replaced Millsap and Torrey Craig in the starting lineup as Denver tried to find some answers to avoid going down 3-1 in the series.

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The Nuggets were much more aggressive early and led by as many as six in the first quarter, but the Jazz stuck around and trailed by just one at halftime, 65-64. Given the close scoreline even though Denver had played much better than the previous games, there was the sense that Utah could get over the hump, and that indeed occurred as it took the 79-77 lead in the third quarter.

“That was a terrific game tonight,” Snyder said. “Denver came out very strong. They were physical. They attacked, knocked us back. I was proud of how we responded.”

That ballooned to double digits as the Jazz started to get stops while maintaining the offensive efficiency they had throughout the night before the Nuggets’ rally set up the close finish.

Game 5 is set for Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. MDT.