The Nuggets followed up their drubbing of the red hot Toronto Raptors at home on Monday night with a tough, slug-it-out loss, falling 85-81 to the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. A 10-3 scoring run for the Jazz in the middle of the final period led to a 79-74 lead that they would hold on to for the remainder of the game; overcoming a 46-40 halftime lead for the Nuggets, playing without Darrell Arthur who was ruled out late. The Jazz have now won their first three matchups of the season, and the Nuggets last chance to avoid a sweep comes in their penultimate game of the regular season on April 10th in Denver.

When/Where

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016 at Vivant Smart Home Arena – Salt Lake City, UT

Star of the Game

Danilo Gallinari – He didn’t shoot the ball well from the field (5-16), but his aggressiveness led to making 12 of 14 free throws and he was the only consistent offensive force for Denver. Gallo won his matchup, outscoring Gordon Hayward 24-16 despite Haywards late-game heroics.

Turning Point

The referees overturned an out-of-bounds call with :07 seconds left in the game, awarding the ball to the Utah Jazz, who led 83-81 at the time. Derrick Favors hustled to tap back into play and it was determined that he hadn’t stepped out of bounds. Hayward hit his two free throw attempts after the ensuing Nuggets foul, leading to the final score.

Get to the Line

On the strength of Gallo’s 14 free throw attempts, the Nuggets outshot the Jazz 33-20 from the line, even including the shots stemming from Denver’s intentional fouls at the end of the game. It takes foul shooting to win games like this, so even with the loss, it’s good to see Denver continuing their trend of finding ways to get to the free throw line.

Barton on the Boards

While the matchup inside was billed as the Nuggets’ young bigs against the Jazz’s established bigs, it was Will Barton who led the team in rebounding with 10. In fact, Barton and Gary Harris combined matched the total (16) of the Jazz starting front court of Derrick Favors (11) and Rudy Gobert (5).

Barton finished with a double-double, including 10 points on 5-8 shooting, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block in an otherwise, relatively quiet night for The Thrill, who was reportedly confirmed as a participant in this year’s NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest.

Quick Hands Harris

Gary Harris gets his hands on a number of passes every game and he was able to turn that into three steals tonight. He had a key defensive stop in the closing seconds of the game before an overturned call awarded the ball back to the Jazz, but he was a difference maker on the defensive end once again. Harris ended up with 11 points on 4-8 shooting and six rebounds in addition to his trio of steals.

Crunch Time

Once again, a lack of late-game execution reared its ugly head and led to a number of passive possessions and well-guarded shots at the end of the shot clock. With no offensive threat other than Gallinari, the Jazz defenders were able to pressure the Nuggets ball handlers and jump Gallo as soon as the ball ended up in his hands. There is no question that the Nuggets have improved their execution of plays coming out of timeouts, so they’ll need to translate that success into late-game situations in order to come away with more wins in games that come down to the wire like this.

Plays of the Game

Emmanuel Mudiay, who finished with 6 assists, had a number of pretty passes tonight leading to easy dunks and layups, none better than this pretty alley-oop to Kenneth Faried:

By the Numbers

Utah Jazz first half blocks: 3

Utah Jazz second half blocks: 7

Derrick Favors had 6 of the 10 Jazz blocks and Utah even managed three blocks on a single Nuggets possession at one point in the second half. Rudy Gobert only swatted one Denver shot on the night, but clearly had an effect on the comfort-level of the Nuggets players in the paint all night.

Quote of the Game

“We did a lot of good things tonight obviously, but we just couldn’t close the deal. To win close games on the road you need execution, (to) value the ball and rebounding, and we just didn’t have that tonight.” -Nuggets head coach Michael Malone

Lasting Impact

The Nuggets loss not only hurts their own spot in the standings, but helps close the gap between the Blazers and the Jazz for the West’s final playoff spot — which may cost Denver a first round draft pick. The pick that the Blazers owe the Nuggets is only protected 1-14, so if they make the playoffs, the Nuggets will have an extra pick in this year’s draft (or, more likely, an extra trade chip to put on the table at the deadline).

Up Next

Friday, February 5 vs. Chicago Bulls, 7:00 p.m. MST

The Bulls were in a battle in Sacramento at the end of the Nuggets game and came into that game on a two-game losing streak, with only a win against the Lakers to show for on their road trip. The Bulls will travel on to Minnesota the next night, then close out their road trip in Charlotte on the 8th.