Nikola Jokic had 27 points and 14 rebounds before sitting the fourth quarter and the Denver Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 129-93 on Friday night to pad their lead in the fight for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Denver leads the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies by two games. The Nuggets trail Houston by 1 1/2 games for the second seed.

Jokic had 11 rebounds in the first quarter, nearly matching his game average of 12.8. Michael Porter Jr. finished with 20 points, and Christian Braun had 16.

Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray didn’t play. Utah was missing Lauri Markkanen and John Collins, its top two scorers.

Collin Sexton led the Jazz with 20 points, and Kyle Filipowski had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Denver finished the third quarter with an 11-2 run and outscored Utah 25-8 to open the fourth.

Takeaways

Jazz: Coach Will Hardy called out his team following a lackluster second half against Memphis on Monday night. Utah played Houston tough on Thursday night and hung with Denver until the fourth.

Nuggets: With Murray out with a tight right hamstring, coach Michael Malone opted to go with a bigger starting lineup and brought Russell Westbrook off the bench. Peyton Watson and Braun were the starting backcourt.

Key moment

Jokic converted another buzzer-beating heave, this one from the top of the 3-point arc on the other side of halfcourt to beat the halftime clock. He hit a near full-court shot against Sacramento on Jan. 23.

Key stat

Watson’s four field goals were dunks, three of which came in a span of 1:06 in the third quarter when Denver built a 15-point lead.

Up next

The Jazz continue their five-game trip at Charlotte on Monday night. The Nuggets host Minnesota on Tuesday night.

------

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Play By Play

Recent plays and game events

TIME	PLAY
12:00	Kyle Filipowski vs. Nikola Jokic (Aaron Gordon gains possession)	0	0
11:43	Aaron Gordon misses 24-foot three point jumper	0	0
11:38	Kyle Filipowski defensive rebound	0	0
11:29	Kyle Filipowski misses 26-foot three point jumper	0	0
11:25	Oscar Tshiebwe offensive rebound	0	0
11:23	Oscar Tshiebwe bad pass (Christian Braun steals)	0	0
11:18	Peyton Watson misses dunk	0	0
11:13	Isaiah Collier defensive rebound	0	0
11:05	Isaiah Collier misses driving floating jump shot	0	0
11:03	Christian Braun defensive rebound	0	0
11:00	Michael Porter Jr. misses 23-foot three point shot	0	0
10:57	Kyle Filipowski defensive rebound	0	0
10:42	Kyle Filipowski misses 22-foot three point jumper	0	0
10:39	Aaron Gordon defensive rebound	0	0
10:35	Christian Braun makes two point shot (Aaron Gordon assists)	2	0
10:11	Isaiah Collier misses driving floating jump shot	2	0
10:10	Nuggets defensive team rebound	2	0
9:53	Michael Porter Jr. lost ball turnover (Collin Sexton steals)	2	0
9:48	Collin Sexton misses two point shot	2	0
9:45	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	2	0
9:39	Michael Porter Jr. makes 26-foot three point step back jumpshot (Christian Braun assists)	5	0
9:23	Collin Sexton misses 26-foot three point pullup jump shot	5	0
9:18	Kyle Filipowski offensive rebound	5	0
9:18	Kyle Filipowski makes tip shot	5	2
9:03	Aaron Gordon out of bounds bad pass turnover	5	2
8:44	Isaiah Collier misses driving floating jump shot	5	2
8:41	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	5	2
8:36	Christian Braun misses 25-foot three point jumper	5	2
8:32	Isaiah Collier defensive rebound	5	2
8:23	Peyton Watson shooting foul	5	2
8:23	Collin Sexton makes free throw 1 of 2	5	3
8:23	Keyonte George enters the game for Cody Williams	5	3
8:23	Collin Sexton misses free throw 2 of 2	5	3
8:21	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	5	3
8:05	Peyton Watson makes 2-foot dunk (Nikola Jokic assists)	7	3
7:45	Keyonte George misses 21-foot step back jumpshot	7	3
7:42	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	7	3
7:32	Nikola Jokic makes layup (Aaron Gordon assists)	9	3
7:32	Jazz Full timeout	9	3
7:32	KJ Martin enters the game for Oscar Tshiebwe	9	3
7:11	Isaiah Collier misses 25-foot jump bank shot	9	3
7:06	Jazz offensive team rebound	9	3
7:06	Jazz Full timeout	9	3
7:06	(07:06) [Jazz] COACH'S CHALLENGE (REPLAY SUPPORTS CALL) [Jazz] charged with a timeout	9	3
6:56	Kyle Filipowski makes 1-foot layup (KJ Martin assists)	9	5
6:35	Nikola Jokic out of bounds bad pass turnover	9	5
6:23	Collin Sexton makes 9-foot driving floating jump shot (Isaiah Collier assists)	9	7
6:10	Christian Braun misses driving layup	9	7
6:09	Nikola Jokic offensive rebound	9	7
6:09	Nikola Jokic misses tip shot	9	7
6:09	Nikola Jokic offensive rebound	9	7
6:09	Collin Sexton shooting foul	9	7
6:09	Nikola Jokic makes free throw 1 of 2	10	7
6:09	Johnny Juzang enters the game for Collin Sexton	10	7
6:09	Nikola Jokic makes free throw 2 of 2	11	7
5:57	Johnny Juzang misses 26-foot three point jumper	11	7
5:53	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	11	7
5:44	Aaron Gordon makes 2-foot dunk (Nikola Jokic assists)	13	7
5:19	Peyton Watson blocks KJ Martin 's 2-foot two point shot	13	7
5:17	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	13	7
5:15	Michael Porter Jr. makes 1-foot dunk (Nikola Jokic assists)	15	7
4:56	KJ Martin misses 25-foot three point jumper	15	7
4:53	Christian Braun defensive rebound	15	7
4:48	Michael Porter Jr. makes 14-foot step back jumpshot	17	7
4:35	Kyle Filipowski makes driving layup (Isaiah Collier assists)	17	9
4:17	Nikola Jokic misses layup	17	9
4:15	Nikola Jokic offensive rebound	17	9
4:14	Nikola Jokic misses 3-foot two point shot	17	9
4:14	Christian Braun offensive rebound	17	9
4:14	Christian Braun misses 1-foot tip shot	17	9
4:14	Kyle Filipowski defensive rebound	17	9
4:06	Isaiah Collier misses 22-foot three point shot	17	9
4:04	Aaron Gordon defensive rebound	17	9
3:59	Christian Braun makes two point shot (Peyton Watson assists)	19	9
3:41	KJ Martin misses 23-foot three point jumper	19	9
3:38	Nuggets defensive team rebound	19	9
3:38	Nuggets Full timeout	19	9
3:38	Russell Westbrook enters the game for Michael Porter Jr.	19	9
3:38	Zeke Nnaji enters the game for Aaron Gordon	19	9
3:38	Oscar Tshiebwe enters the game for Keyonte George	19	9
3:38	Collin Sexton enters the game for Isaiah Collier	19	9
3:38	Brice Sensabaugh enters the game for Kyle Filipowski	19	9
3:27	Brice Sensabaugh shooting foul	19	9
3:27	Zeke Nnaji makes free throw 1 of 2	20	9
3:27	Zeke Nnaji makes free throw 2 of 2	21	9
3:15	Oscar Tshiebwe makes 2-foot layup (Collin Sexton assists)	21	11
2:57	Nikola Jokic makes 7-foot two point shot	23	11
2:45	Peyton Watson blocks Collin Sexton 's 3-foot driving layup	23	11
2:45	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	23	11
2:39	Christian Braun misses two point shot	23	11
2:37	Brice Sensabaugh defensive rebound	23	11
2:32	Collin Sexton steps out of bounds turnover	23	11
2:32	Jalen Pickett enters the game for Peyton Watson	23	11
2:12	Nikola Jokic misses 4-foot jumper	23	11
2:09	Oscar Tshiebwe defensive rebound	23	11
1:56	Collin Sexton bad pass (Jalen Pickett steals)	23	11
1:47	Russell Westbrook makes 2-foot layup (Nikola Jokic assists)	25	11
1:47	Oscar Tshiebwe shooting foul	25	11
1:47	Spencer Jones enters the game for Christian Braun	25	11
1:47	Keyonte George enters the game for Collin Sexton	25	11
1:47	Cody Williams enters the game for Johnny Juzang	25	11
1:47	Russell Westbrook makes free throw 1 of 1	26	11
1:38	Keyonte George makes 16-foot pullup jump shot (Oscar Tshiebwe assists)	26	13
1:16	Nikola Jokic lost ball turnover (Brice Sensabaugh steals)	26	13
1:05	Keyonte George makes 11-foot two point shot (KJ Martin assists)	26	15
43.2	Nikola Jokic misses 6-foot two point shot	26	15
41.0	Oscar Tshiebwe defensive rebound	26	15
32.0	Keyonte George misses driving floating jump shot	26	15
30.1	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	26	15
25.0	Jalen Pickett misses two point shot	26	15
22.1	Brice Sensabaugh defensive rebound	26	15
3.1	Brice Sensabaugh misses 12-foot two point shot	26	15
1.0	Jazz offensive team rebound	26	15
0.0	End of the 1st Quarter	26	15

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Game Information

Time, Location & Referees

Venue

Ball Arena

Denver, CO

Date & Time

1:00 AM, March 29, 2025

Coverage

KJZZ-TV, Altitude Sports, Jazz+, NBA League Pass

Attendance

19,905

Referees

Derek Richardson, John Goble, Sean Corbin

2025-26 Northwest Standings

TEAM	W	L	PCT	STRK
Oklahoma City	46	15	.754	W1
Denver	37	23	.617	L1
Minnesota	37	23	.617	W2
Portland	29	32	.475	L1
Utah	18	42	.300	L5

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Jokic has 27 points and 14 rebounds in Nuggets' 129-93 romp over Jazz

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