Utah Jazz narrowly defeated the Denver Nuggets, 129-127, seizing a 3-1 lead in the series. Once again, fantastic Donovan Mitchell showed all of his tremendous abilities, exploding for 51 points.
He had a worthy opponent on the other side, Jamal Murray, who had one point fewer, giving all he had to keep his Nuggets in the game, but eventually, without a reward.
According to the history books, this is the first time that two opposite players dropped 50+ points in the postseason match.
Mitchell was superb in the critical situations, delivering 16 of Utah’s final 20 buckets, and taking all the responsibility in his hands. The key moment of the event was wit 54.7 seconds, once he hit a three-pointer to pull away his Jazz to a two-possession lead, 122-118. After that, it was all a routine for the Jazzers who seem to have a massive momentum right now.
Both sides were trading hits right from the start, with the Nuggets having an 8-point lead 43-35 early on in the second period. Michael Malone’s team was slightly up throughout that period, but the Jazz narrowed the gap at the halftime, and eventually took the lead in the middle of the third. From that moment on, the difference between them and the Jazz was just getting bigger and bigger, eventually reaching the maximum, 102-91 with 1:03 inside the last sequence.
The Nuggets tried to get back, but once again, they suffered a defeat against Utah, their third straight. Murray had arguably the best game of his career with 50 buckets, 11 boards and seven assists, hitting nine threes in 15 attempts, and shooting 18-for-31. Interestingly, Murray didn’t have a single turnover tonight.
Nikola Jokic was following him with 29 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, 12-for-24 from the field. Paul Milsap added 16 with seven boards, and Jerami Grant had 12. A big problem for the Nuggets in this match was the productivity off the bench, with the replacements delivering just 13 points. They also had just 13 free throws, compared to Utah’s 36.
Donovan Mitchell alone had 18, and missed just one. He ended the night with 51 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Mike Conley was excellent with 26 points, four threes among that, while Jordan Clarkson had 24 buckets off the bench, shooting 9-for-13 from the field.
The Jazz was 42-for-73 during the game, posting 57.5% FG.
Game five is this Tuesday.