Fourth quarter collapse dooms Denver Nuggets at home vs Utah Jazz

After much of the summer months were consumed with questions about pace and how head coach Michael Malone, point guard Emmanuel Mudiay and the rest of the Denver Nuggets would regain the home court advantage they had seemingly lost over the course of the last two years, many are still left looking for those answers.

Denver fell 96-84 to a Jazz team, who dominated and controlled the pace and flow of the game from the second quarter on. Coming off a game last night in Portland, which the Jazz lost 108-92, it was widely known Utah, who already plays at the league’s slowest pace, would try their hardest to turn this into a half court game.

They did exactly that.

After a first quarter which saw Denver run off of misses and turnovers to a tune of 24 points on 53 percent shooting, the energy was suddenly gone. After leading 40-29 in the second quarter, the Jazz, at one point went on a 60-33 run. Utah ended up outscoring Denver 56-42 in the second half and 31-20 over the course of the 4th quarter.

“I thought we came out good energy to start the game, the first quarter especially, and as the first half went on, I thought we slowed down some,” a visibly disappointed Malone said postgame. “Then, [the] fourth quarter, what it basically came down to was it got tight, they were on a 7-0 run I believe. After that clear path foul, we hit a little bit of adversity and didn’t respond back, they took it up to another level and that’s when they broke the game open.”

The energy that Mudiay, Kenneth Faried and the rest of the team had to start the game quickly evaporated and many were left asking where that tempo went in the second half.

“I don’t know [where the energy went], but the energy was not there,” Danilo Gallinari said. “Especially when you play against a team like that, second on a back to back, they might stay with you in the first two quarters but if you keep the same energy they will not stay with you the whole game. They had a lot more energy than us for sure.

As the game went on, Denver should have been building momentum and energy against a Jazz team who flew into Denver late last night and didn’t hold shoot around this morning.

“If this game is in the 80’s for us that’s an advantage for Utah and it was,” Malone said. “Their tempo most of the night – and we just, I don’t know maybe we’re not in shape yet because we can’t sustain that energy for 48 minutes.”

But who’s responsibility is it to bring that energy to the table?

“We all got to run together,” said Mudiay. “Like I said, I guess I’ve got to be more vocal about it. I’m such a laid back person, but I just got to start talking more. I think that’s the main thing.

“We gotta change fast,” said Mudiay. “So, I’ll get it together, I’ll pick it up, start learning how to talk to everybody.”

Quite frankly, it’s hard to describe what happened in the second half, but give credit to the Jazz. They out worked and out executed the Nuggets tonight. Utah shot 11-24 from 3-point range, many of those makes coming off high pick and roll’s and kick outs to wide-open corner and wing shooters. If Denver’s game plan was to contain Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors rolling to the rim and make Utah beat them from the perimeter, it’s a strategy that wasn’t adjusted when Utah outscored Denver 60-33 after Denver led 40-29 in the second quarter.

“We’re not completely understanding our defensive concepts,” Malone said. “We’re making a lot of the same mistakes over and over. Give [Utah] credit, they spread the floor, they went with a couple of unorthodox lineups with [Joe] Ingles as their point guard with shooters out there, and you have to account for Gobert at the rim. He’s such a terrific roller, but we had too many guys at the rim.”

Malone elaborated on Denver’s defense in the pick-and-roll when trying to contain the ball handler.

“Then at times, we’re chasing guys over when the game plan is to go under so we can keep bodies in front of us.” said Malone.

Utah certainly executed to perfection in the second half. The Nuggets turned the ball over 13 times and the Jazz converted those turnovers into an amazingly efficient 23 points.

We’re all searching for answers: fans, media members, coaching staff and players alike. However, they’re  unlikely to come tomorrow night when Denver flies to Golden State and takes on a Warriors squad who’s seemingly playing a different brand of basketball than everyone else.

It’s supposed to be a new day in Denver, but the Nuggets, so far this season, have been up to their old ways.