Utah @ Denver preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 28, 2017 ) Denver 77, Utah 106

The Denver Nuggets are coming off an easy road win against the defending NBA champions and have a shot at their first three-game winning streak in well over a month when they host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday. The Nuggets rolled past the banged-up Golden State Warriors 96-81 on Saturday to cap an impressive 2-0 road trip, which bumped Denver's road mark to 7-12, compared to 11-3 at home.

The Warriors had won 11 straight but were thwarted by the Nuggets' perimeter defense, which held the champs to a 3-for-27 showing from beyond the arc. "I can't remember seeing many teams hold that team to 3-of-27 from the 3-point line," Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters. "So it's a hell of a win for us and it's going to make Christmas obviously that much merrier." That approach could come in handy against a Jazz unit that entered Christmas tied for seventh in the NBA in 3-point percentage (38.1), although the triples have been hard to come by of late. Utah made just 6-of-26 long-range attempts in Saturday's 103-89 loss to Oklahoma City, its eighth defeat in the last 10 games.

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

ABOUT THE JAZZ (15-19): Rookie guard Donovan Mitchell returned from a toe sprain that robbed him of two games to score 29 points on 12-of-16 shooting in the loss to Oklahoma City. Rodney Hood, who had the same scoring total in his previous game while Mitchell sat, missed his first seven shots and finished 3-of-14 as Utah was held below 100 points for the third time in four contests. "I didn't feel like we executed offensively," coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "When you play a team that's long and athletic defensively, you need each other even more. You have to execute with even more force and commit and we weren't able to do that."

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (18-15): Center Nikola Jokic averaged 22.5 points, nine rebounds and five assists on the road trip and he has shot 50 percent or better in four straight games as he seems to have completely overcome a recent ankle injury. "When he's out there, he's just a security blanket," Malone told reporters. "When things aren't going right, get Nikola in the game. He's gonna make the right play." Guard Emmanuel Mudiay is expected to return Tuesday from an ankle injury of his own after missing the previous four games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Utah has won the first two meetings this season, and it returns to Denver on Jan. 5 to finish the season series.

2. Nuggets SG Gary Harris is averaging 22 points and two steals over his last five games.

3. The Jazz are 3-13 on the road, the second-worst mark in the Western Conference.

PREDICTION: Nuggets 106, Jazz 99