Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray combined for 93 points but Murray’s Nuggets escaped with the Game 1 win.
Both teams entered this game shorthanded with Gary Harris and Will Barton out for the Nuggets and Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley both out of the bubble completely for the Jazz. (Conley left for the birth of his son and is expected back in this series). The Nuggets were giving more minutes to already solid contributors deeper in their rotation. The Jazz, on the other hand, started Juwan Morgan — a 6-foot-8 rookie who had played just 134 minutes total.
Early in the first half, if seemed like Denver would be ready to overwhelm Utah with their depth. Nikola Jokic was controlling things on offense, Jamal Murray was carving up the defense and Michael Porter Jr. was dropping in 3-pointers over the top of the defense. The Nuggets carried a seven-point lead into halftime and, honestly, it didn’t even feel quite that close.
But in the second, both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell kept pressing and a defensive adjustment by Denver gave them the opening to blast through. They bulldozed the Nuggets in the third quarter and carried a five-point lead into the fourth. Some epic shot-making from Jamal Murray, trading baskets with Mitchell, kept it close and a crucial challenge from Gobert on a potential game-winner from Jokic forced overtime.
From there, it was all Nuggets. Mitchell couldn’t finish the tough shots and the Nuggets could. The end result — a 20-10 advantage in overtime and a 135-125 win for Denver.
What else did you miss in Game 1 between the Jazz and Nuggets?
MVP: Jamal Murray and his clutch shooting
For about 42 minutes, this looked like it was Donovan Mitchell’s game. In the final six minutes of regulation, Murray put up 10 points and 2 assists, going toe-to-toe with Mitchell and helping force overtime. In the extra period, he was unstoppable — piling in 10 more. In the end, Murray finished with 36 points on 20 shots, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and a steal. He made every big shot and showed that he’s ready to put last year’s postseason inconsistency behind him.
Unsung Hero(es): The Nuggets outside shooters
Jokic and Murray drove the Nuggets but the supporting cast player their roles to perfection. Everyone was hitting open jumpers and they got some key buckets from outside shooters who can be shaky at times. Combined, Michael Porter Jr., Paul Millsap, Torrey Craig, Jerami Grant, Monte Morris and P.J. Dozier were 12-of-25 from beyond the arc (48 percent) punishing Utah anytime they tried to put a little extra pressure on Jokic or Murray.
Turning point: Donovan Mitchell chewing up drop coverage
Mitchell was, as expected, the offensive focal point for Utah and he repeatedly burned the Nuggets in the first half with his dribble penetration — at halftime, he had 19 points and 3 assists. In the second half, Denver shifted to more drop coverage, trying to keep him away from the rim and, hopefully, encourage some more mid-range jumpers. Instead, Mitchell used the extra space in the middle of the floor to build up a runway and finished both strongly and creatively around the Nuggets bigs.
That defensive change by the Nuggets was a big factor in Utah’s +12 margin in the third quarter, putting them in front as they headed to the fourth.
This was an obvious problem for the Nuggets, Mitchell’s second-half scoring is what made this a close game. Denver will need to tighten up their coverage in Game 2, or just dare Mitchell to score 50 again, I suppose?