Gordon Monson: The Utah Jazz Kill the Denver Nuggets, and the Nuggets Know It

Everyone expected the Jazz to crush Denver like they did in Game 3 on Friday – right? – and the final score was a glorious / pathetic 124-87. The only questions to ask were … 1) What the hell happened to the Nuggets? … and 2) What is there to do with the Jazz?

The answers were … 1) They sucked and then stopped. … and 2) A stomach full of fire.

“They play at a different level than us,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said after postgame. “… These are two games in a row where we kicked our asses.”

He added: ‘We give in too easily. We need to get mentally harder. ”

Truth and truth and truth and more truth.

And for good measure he threw in: “I don’t coach well enough, we don’t play well enough.”

Wait … that was just the beginning.

Jamal Murray said: “We need to stick to a higher standard. … We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and come back to play. ‘

And there was this from Nikola Jokic: “We did not know what they were doing.”

Maybe it was the Nuggets who did not know what the Nuggets were doing.

When Denver saw death, for the second time in so many games, the Jazz now with a 2-1 lead in the series, Quin Snyder wanted everyone to believe that the last iteration of this playoff continuum was like “The Empire Strikes Back “see” The Two Towers “or” The Temple of Doom. ” It was, by its evaluation, the middle installment of a film trilogy, an episode in which nothing was completely up to date or fully determined, only bursts of action revealed and the pay now of momentum – whatever that is worth – in something still bound is a tough, extended series.

He said: “This is the playoffs… We need to keep our focus and intensity. … We play against a very good team. … You focus on what’s right for you. … We need to stay sluggish and stay focused. ”

Not if the Nuggets do not bring their things together.

Snyder has maintained his enduring theme – “It’s a series … a series” – something he expresses in both ways, after a loss and after two winning standouts. That’s what a coach does. But the Jazz found the convincing means to retain the previous singular and the last plural, and in two days gained a second enormous victory.

Maybe the meaning of it all is really unintentional.

But, man, if the Nuggets weren’t done, they looked out of place.

It’s worth remembering that Denver came back from a 2-1 deficit last postseason to win a series against San Antonio, but they did not lose that way and the Spurs are not playing like the Jazz are now.

It is fair to say that the last eight quarters of Utah are the best basketball a Snyder-coached Jazz team has ever played, including streaks after which every benevolent person would have invoked a blessed rule of grace. The Jazz’s momentum stream now seems like a flood.

Part of that washing included the rude return of Mike Conley, who earlier this week marked the arrival of a newborn son and it followed with the brutal clubbing of the poor, poor, pathetic Nuggets. He scored 27 points on 9-for-13 shots, 7-for-8 on deep balls.

Malone tried to make adjustments to Wednesday’s Jazz hull, something with Donovan Mitchell having his way, and then adjusting his adjustments when Rudy Gobert went for 20 points in the first half of Friday, and the Jazz came easily in the paint on dribble penetration over that same span. The Nuggets tried to engage defense, and from there the Jazz buried them with accurate perimeter shooting.

All told, Utah made 51 percent of their shots, 49 percent from outside the arc.

Nothing that Denver defensively threw up was all that Snyder, Mitchell, Conley and Joe Ingles did not expect, as almost all Jazz players saw the floor and made bad decisions, not unlike bad quarterbacks who spotted a blitz and the ball after right delivered receiver at the right time, that is to say, the Jazz moved the ball, collecting 27 assists. When the Jazz get so many assists, they almost never lose.

Gobert smothered the Nugs early, celebrating the aforementioned feeds in the paint, where Jokic was no match for him, and Conley swung a socket wrench from outside, helping the Jazz take a 20-point lead for the time being. After that, Malone admitted that his team put up nicely on the rest of the game.

Snyder praised his players for their consistent effort.

Of Conley, he said, “He’s such a big part of what we do.”

Said Conley: “I’m thankful I’m back.”

On Gobert, he complimented his’ commitment to space, to trust his teammates. He lets our guards ride the ball. He’s at the other end of those discs. … it’s hard to protect. ”

Said Gobert: “No matter what defense they throw at us, we know how to make the right decisions.”

The Nuggets do not.

They are, in a word, confused.

They are, in other words, lost.

Afterwards, while Denver struggled and stewed, the Jazz tuned in to the definitive episodes of their suddenly promising trilogy.

There were not many hints of celebration, nor signs of satisfaction. But the Jazz are confident, and they know they can beat the favorite Nuggets, if they push, if they continue to D up, if they continue to share the ball, if they make and take open shots.

They are more than just their rising star Donovan Mitchell – who had 20 points in Game 3 – although they are definitely supported by his presence.

“We know what the goal is,” Gobert said. “We have a great group, a great opportunity.”

GORDON MONSON host “The Big Show” with Jake Scott on weekdays from 2-7pm on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone, which is owned by the parent company that owns the Utah Jazz.