Nuggets piece together third straight dominant defensive performance in 107-83 win over Jazz

Straight off back-to-back defensive outings where the Nuggets held the Trail Blazers and Warriors to 85 points or less, Denver suffocated the Utah Jazz Tuesday night for all 48 minutes in a 107-83 victory.

In Portland on Friday, Denver held the Trail Blazers to 41 first-half points. In Golden State on Saturday, the Nuggets limited the Warriors to a season-low 81 points. Tuesday, the Jazz scored just 34 points across the game’s first two quarters. Utah didn’t reach the 50-point mark until the five-minute mark of the third quarter.

The Jazz shot just 32.1 percent from the field and 10-35 from three-point range. Donovan Mitchell, who was coming off a 29-point outing against the Thunder on Saturday, scored just 13 points on 5-10 shooting in 33 minutes. Gary Harris and Torrey Craig held the high-scoring rookie in check.

After shooting just 7-20 from the field over his last two outings, Jamal Murray got the scoring started for Denver. Murray scored 13 points in the first quarter on 5-for-8 shooting and set the tone for the Nuggets on that end of the floor.

Murray finished with 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

Nikola Jokic took over in the second. Jokic scored nine points in the period and had his way with Jonas Jerebko until he was assessed a flagrant-2 for catching the Jazz forward with an elbow midway through the fourth quarter. Jokic finished the night with 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Elsewhere for Denver, Gary Harris and Wilson Chandler finished with 15 points apiece.

Denver cruised to victory after leading Utah 50-34 at the half. The Nuggets have now held three of their last four opponents to under 95 points.