Jamal Murray pours in 45 as Nuggets hold off Jazz
Jamal Murray scored 45 points and dished out eight assists while leading the Denver Nuggets to a 128-125 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday in Salt Lake City.
Murray shot 8-for-13 from 3-point range to help Denver snap a two-game losing streak. Nikola Jokic tallied 22 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for the Nuggets, and Julian Strawther chipped in 15 points.
Denver shot 54.1% from the field and made 16 of 39 3-point attempts (41%). The Nuggets also outscored the Jazz 14-7 in second-chance points.
Keyonte George led Utah with 36 points and four steals while Kyle Filipowski chipped in 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Ace Bailey had 18 points and Svi Mykhailiuk added 15.
The Jazz lost their sixth straight game despite scoring 27 points off 15 Denver turnovers and outscoring the Nuggets 25-15 in fastbreak points.
Utah was down by nine with 7:32 to go in the fourth quarter but took a 122-118 lead with 2:13 left after scoring on nine straight possessions. George fueled that surge with four consecutive baskets, culminating in a go-ahead 3-pointer. He added a running dunk off a steal to put Utah up by four.
Four free throws from Jokic on two Denver possessions tied the game.
George's three-point play with 1:28 to go put Utah up 125-122, but Murray sank a fadeaway shot and later hit two free throws with 31.8 seconds remaining to give Denver the lead again for good.
George missed two shots in the closing seconds, and Jokic added two points at the foul line.
The Nuggets went 20-for-21 on free throws in the fourth quarter while the Jazz were 3-for-3.
Denver led through most of the third quarter after opening the second half with an 8-0 run. Strawther and Murray capped the run with back-to-back threes to put Denver up 74-67.
Utah eventually erased the deficit and went ahead 91-90 on a pair of free throws from Bailey. That lead proved to be short-lived.
Murray countered with a stepback 3-pointer on the next possession to put the Nuggets back in front. His fifth and final outside basket of the third quarter helped fuel a 7-0 run that gave Denver a 100-93 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Murray scored 18 points in the third quarter.
George beat the halftime buzzer with a pullup 3-pointer to give Utah a 67-66 lead going into the locker room.