The Utah Jazz, who have been in a great mood lately, beat the Denver Nuggets 124–111 in the NBA basketball league. Lauri Markkanen shone against a top team.
The rude Utah Jazz and the reluctant-looking Denver Nuggets.
This is what it looked like when Lauri Markkanen represented by Utah defeated the reigning NBA champion Denver by a score of 124–111 in the world’s best basketball league. The Suomalaistahtahti scored 26 points and pulled down no less than 12 rebounds. At the same time, he did a perfect job at the free throw line, as Markkanen hit all 12 of his free throws.
In the match, Markkanen made a lot of impressive performances that thrilled the audience. Among other things, he made a flying dunk at the end of a quick attack in the second quarter. At the end of the match, he was annoying Nikola Jokicone of the best players in the world, under the basket and Jokic had to make a terrible mistake against the Finnish star.
Utah’s best scorer was the back man Jordan Clarkson with 27 points. At the same time, Clarkson, who struggled with turnovers especially in the early season, made nine assists that led to baskets.
– We have fun and keep the game simple. We enjoy each other on the field and move the ball, Clarkson smiled in the field interview after the match.
Utah set the pace for its convincing victory in the opening quarter, which the team won 35–24. The team threw brilliantly and sank no less than 13 out of a total of 20 attempts. Denver’s players took turns falling asleep on defense, hitting only 10 of 23 field goal attempts.
The same continued in the second quarter and Utah led by 18 points at halftime. At the same time, the team scored 71 points in the first half. The game was the second in a row where Utah scored at least 70 points in the opening half.
As the match progressed, Denver couldn’t catch Utah’s extended lead, even though the champion coach Michael Malone also whipped his team with timeouts for weak defensive performances. Even superstar Jokic’s 27 points didn’t help as the team’s defense leaked repeatedly.
As the second half progressed, the match already had a strong taste of playing, as Utah punished Denver practically every time the visiting team managed to tune up the budding streak. Utah led the match with as many as 25 points at its best.
The plus-minus statistics of Denver’s starting five after the match was a sight to behold. Back-up star Jamal Murray registered the weakest balance with his -27 points and laituri Michael Porter Jr. the best -18.
Utah has been flying high in its last matches. The team has won no fewer than 11 of their last 15 matches. The team is currently ranked 11th in the Western Conference. For example, the team lost 13 of their first 20 matches of the season, and the play and the rest of the season looked almost hopeless.
Young head coach Will Hardy has seemed to have found working groupings, when, for example, Clarkson has only come on the field as a substitute and a back man Talen Horton-Tucker is completely benched. Utah has won all nine of its games since Horton-Tucker fell out of the rotation.
– This was a perfect match for us. Our players did a good job of being able to defend the opposition’s star players in different ways, Hardy praised his team at the press conference.