Field Level Media
Aug 8, 2020
Nikola Jokic had 30 points and 11 rebounds, Jamal Murray had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in his return to the lineup, and the Denver Nuggets outlasted the Utah Jazz 134-132 in double overtime near Orlando on Saturday.
Michael Porter Jr. had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Jerami Grant scored 21 points and Monte Morris 15 for Denver (46-24). Torrey Craig added 11 points before fouling out.
Donovan Mitchell had 35 points -- 28 in the fourth quarter and overtimes -- while Rudy Gobert had 22 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out, Mike Conley scored 20, Jordan Clarkson added 19 and Joe Ingles had 11 for the Jazz (43-27).
Gobert, Mitchell and Conley sat out Friday's loss to San Antonio but returned against the Nuggets.
Murray missed the first four games of the restart due to left hamstring tightness and played 39 minutes Saturday. His fadeaway jumper and 3-pointer late in the second overtime gave Denver a 128-123 lead. The Nuggets led by seven with 56.3 seconds left but the Jazz nearly rallied again in the final minute.
Conley hit two 3-pointers and Mitchell another with 5.6 seconds left to cut it to two points. Murray, an 89-percent free throw shooter, missed two with 4.2 seconds left but Mitchell's half-court heave at the buzzer was off.
Denver led by six in the first overtime but Mitchell converted a three-point play, hit a 3-pointer and then driving layup with 3.4 seconds left to put Utah up 119-117. Jokic, who had 12 of his points in the first overtime, drove to the rim and scored with 0.3 seconds left to send the game into a second overtime.
The Nuggets trailed by as many as 18 in the first half but went ahead on Murray's layup and led 104-98 with 10.8 seconds left in regulation. Two free throws by Mitchell, a turnover by Denver and a 3-pointer by Mitchell with 7.8 left made it 104-103.
Grant split a pair of free throws and Mitchell hit a layup with 0.9 seconds left to send it to overtime.
--Field Level Media