Sometimes, the wins aren’t pretty. They still count the same though.
The Denver Nuggets oscillated through good moments and bad moments but ultimately found their way to a 130-117 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
Jamal Murray led the way with 37 points, shooting a ridiculous 10-of-16 from three-point range alone. He started the game by making his first three triples and forced an early timeout by Jazz head coach Will Hardy. He slowed down a bit for the rest of the quarter but finished up the first frame with a buzzer beater from beyond halfcourt, something he’s done frequently this year somehow.
JAMAL MURRAY FROM HALF COURT TO BEAT THE BUZZER pic.twitter.com/9F2PsGMzpC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 2, 2026
From there, Murray hit some more shots, made some disruptive defensive plays, and threw an accidental lob off the backboard to Christian Braun in the fourth quarter. He was ultimately the biggest reason for Denver’s success. He stabilized a lot for Denver, ending up +20 in his 37 minutes in a game the Nuggets won by 13 points.
Beyond Murray, Nikola Jokic achieved another triple-double with 15 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists. Jokic took just 10 shots, and his turnovers occurred in waves at the end of the third quarter to keep this game a bit closer than it should’ve been. Still, he stabilized a lot for Denver too.
Cam Johnson had an impressive 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in 35 minutes. He was coming off of back spasms in the last game but didn’t show up on the injury report. That was good because the Nuggets needed extended minutes for the versatile wing, and he delivered good production across the board.
The reason Denver needed that production? They lost both Tim Hardaway Jr. and Peyton Watson in the first half. Hardaway suffered from soreness in his left knee, while Watson was held out with right hamstring tightness. That’s not super encouraging for a number of reasons, but the most important one is that Watson’s feeling tightness in the same hamstring that caused him to sit for several weeks. Hopefully, this isn’t a full on re-aggravation of the previous injury.
The Nuggets responded with a short rotation in the second half, playing Bruce Brown, Julian Strawther, and Jonas Valanciunas in an 8-man rotation with their starters. That ended up working, and it was in large part due to Brown and Valanciunas. Brown accumulated 4 steals and a block to go with 11 points and 3 rebounds. He was just about the only player the Nuggets had that impacted the game defensively.
Valanciunas was very productive with 13 points and 7 rebounds in just 13 minutes. The Nuggets needed someone to take the pressure off of the starters, and Valanciunas did just that, going 7-of-8 from the free throw line against a very undersized Jazz team. The Nuggets threw him the ball over and over, which forced the Jazz defense to adjust, and that allowed some shots for Murray later.
Allowing 117 points to this version of the Jazz isn’t super encouraging. Bruce Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski had 28 and 25 points respectively, and players like Kennedy Chandler, John Konchar, and Oscar Tshiebwe had moments against the Nuggets defense.
Perhaps expecting the Nuggets to stay locked in all the way through is a bridge too far. The Jazz are on the borderline of actively trying to lose, and the Nuggets clearly got bored tonight, waiting for the Jazz to challenge them. Murray responded well, and the Nuggets never let this game get to a dangerous place, pushing the lead back up to double digits by the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Murray passes it off the glass to Braun!
What a play pic.twitter.com/T6y3e3x3G0
— NBA (@NBA) April 2, 2026
With only five games left to go, the Nuggets are set the face the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, followed by Portland, Memphis, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio again next week. They’re at the tail end of the season and can see the finish line before the playoffs, and winning seven in a row makes it easy to lose focus.
Still, we will see what the Nuggets can provide down the stretch that offers confidence heading into the playoffs this season.
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