Nuggets-Jazz Grades: Denver holds Mitchell in check

The Denver Nuggets topped the Jazz 107-83 behind a game-high 22 points from Jamal Murray and a stout defensive effort that limited Utah to just 83 points on 32.1 percent shooting.

Here’s how each Nuggets player performed.

Jamal Murray (A) – Denver’s starting point guard finished with a game-high 22 points. Most importantly, he got the Nuggets going on offense when he scored 13 in the first quarter. Sometimes the rest of Murray’s night is predicated on if he’s able to get into a scoring groove in the first quarter. Tonight, he did just that when he shot 5-8 from the field over the game’s first 12 minutes and set the tone offensively.

Gary Harris (A) – Harris continues to be Mr. Reliable for Denver. He chipped in a quiet 15 points on 6-12 shooting and also had a few highlight-worthy finishes and dunks where he showed off an athleticism that’s somewhat underrated. As always, Harris is a key cog in Denver’s defensive renaissance that’s taken place over the past three games. Harris was Donovan Mitchell’s primary defender and he held the high-scoring rookie, who was coming off a 29-point outing in Oklahoma City on Saturday, to just 13 points.

Wilson Chandler (A) – Chandler hit a number of key buckets from the midrange tonight (his specialty) when it looked like Utah might stage a second-half rally. He also finished with seven rebounds and played solid defense on Joe Ingles. Chandler’s been a rock for Denver over this recent stretch on both ends of the floor.

Nikola Jokic (B+) – Jokic got burned by Jonas Jerebko early in the first quarter of tonight’s game. Jerebko took four wide-open jumpers in the game’s opening minutes and Jokic didn’t score until a three-point play at the beginning of the second. Then, he took over. Jokic scored nine points in the second quarter but was ejected at the start of the fourth just as he was really getting into a groove on offense. Sometimes Jokic gets into a rhythm where he’s confident, a bit cocky and playing with an edge. He’s shouting out commands on offense, telling his teammates where he wants to ball and yapping at defenders. It’s fun to watch and tonight, Jokic was in that mode in the second half prior to his flagrant-2 ejection.

Mason Plumlee (A) – If there’s one player behind Denver’s surging defense, it might be Plumlee. Denver’s starting center was solid again on the interior tonight and controlled the paint.

Will Barton (B-) – Another rough shooting night from Barton. The Nuggets’ sixth-man shot just 2-11 from the field but was a plus-17 overall. His numbers weren’t flashy but he still had a positive impact. Since shooting 8-14 against New Orleans on Dec. 15, Barton is just 14 of his last 51 from the field. He’s playing backup point guard and might still be getting adjusted to the position and role.

Trey Lyles (A+) – You got the feeling that tonight, Lyles wanted to show out against his former team. He finished with 16 points on a clean 7-11 shooting to go with eight rebounds in just 28 minutes. Right now, Lyles is playing with supreme confidence — he said so from his locker afterward. He has no hesitation on his jumper and losing weight this offseason gave him more athleticism, as evident by his slew of poster dunks already this season.

Torrey Craig (A) – Craig logged 21 minutes tonight against the Jazz and although he didn’t score, he still filled up the box score in other ways. Craig was matched up with Mitchell and Joe Johnson for most of the night and didn’t let Johnson gain an inch of ground when he tried to back the G League call-up down on a few different occasions from the block tonight. Again, it’s hard envisioning Denver sending Craig back to Sioux Falls this year.

The Nuggets travel to Minnesota tonight for a matchup with the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Denver fell 112-104 to Minnesota back on Dec. 27.