Jazz Cut Nuggets’ Massive Lead With Big Third Quarter

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After trailing by as much as 27 points in the game, the Utah Jazz have cut the Denver Nuggets’ lead to 12 points at the end of the third quarter.

The Nuggets had that big lead after scorching the net from beyond the arc in the first half, making 15-of-17 and the Jazz couldn’t answer.

Utah outscored Denver 37-24 in the third quarter. It was a wide spread of scorers for the Jazz in the third quarter with Bojan Bogdanovic, Royce O’Neale, Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson each scoring six points, all made two three-pointers. Nikola Jokic added 10 third quarter points to his 43 points after scoring 33 in the first half.

Bogdanovic was up to 23 points through three quarters, Clarkson and Mitchell each had 13 points.

At the end of three quarters the @utahjazz trail the @Nuggets 103-91.

Bojan Bogdanovic up to 23 points for the game. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/RcKzzjYmvP

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 31, 2021

The Nuggets took a 79-54 halftime lead over the Jazz as Nikola Jokic scored 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Denver made 15 of their 17 attempts from the three-point line for 88 percent in the first 24 minutes. They also made 67 percent of their field goals.

Utah made 42 percent of their field goals, while knocking down 45 percent of their three-pointers.

Both teams started out making seven straight threes combined. The Jazz made their first three, coming from Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and Donovan Mitchell.

The Nuggets made their first seven with three from Jokic, two from Will Barton and one from Paul Millsap and Jamal Murray. At the halftime break, three players for Denver scored in double figures. Other than 33 from Jokic, Barton had 15 points and Murray added 10 points.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 3-for-5 from the perimeter. He was the only Jazz player to score in double figures. Donovan Mitchell returned to the lineup after missing the last two games due to being in concussion protocol. He recorded 7 points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half.

The Jazz will return home for one game on Tuesday, February 2 against the Detroit Pistons before hitting the road for three straight.