Utah @ Denver preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 26, 2017 ) Utah 83, Denver 107

The Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets have played some extremely one-sided contests this season and both will try to be on the right side of things when they finish their four-game season series in the Mile High City on Friday. After a 10-point Utah win in the season opener for both teams on Oct. 18, the next two meetings were decided by an average of 26.5 points, with the Nuggets picking up their first victory in the series with a 107-83 triumph at home the day after Christmas.

Denver followed that up with back-to-back losses before riding Gary Harris to a 134-111 rout of the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. "Gary had it going tonight. He was aggressive from the jump," teammate Will Barton told reporters of Harris, who scored 36 points for the second time in less than a month. "Once a guy gets going, you look for him." Utah has gone a month without a winning streak and fell for the 11th time in 14 games with Wednesday's 108-98 home loss to New Orleans. The Jazz now begin a stretch in which they play 12 of 16 on the road, where they are a Western Conference-worst 3-15.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), Altitude (Denver)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (16-22): With center Rudy Gobert injured and rookie Donovan Mitchell carrying the bulk of the scoring load, Utah often finds itself with little margin for error against teams like the Pelicans, who are loaded with star power. "Other teams, they have two superstars they can rely on. Not saying our guys aren't talented, but other teams can get away with certain things," Mitchell told the Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday. "We have to play with extra energy and we have to play with an assertiveness that we didn't play with tonight. We did at points, but not the whole game." Mitchell scored 24 points in the loss after averaging 23.1 in December, although he was held to 13 in the recent matchup with Denver.

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (20-17): Harris was 14-of-17 from the field against Phoenix and 20 of his points came in the first quarter alone. "The start he got off on was incredible," coach Michael Malone told the media of Harris, who also had two steals and entered Thursday ranked fifth in the NBA in that category (1.91). Trey Lyles added 16 points, and he scored in double figures in nine straight games to raise his season average to 9.7.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Denver outrebounded each of its last 13 opponents.

2. Nuggets C Mason Plumlee tied season highs with six assists and five blocked shots against the Suns.

3. Gobert (knee) has missed 10 games in a row and will be reevaluated in another week or so.

PREDICTION: Nuggets 108, Jazz 98