Bojan Bogdanovic drops 48, Jazz beat Nuggets in thriller

What a game.

Two weeks before the NBA Playoffs kickoff, we got an absolute banger of a game in Vivint Arena tonight.

The Jazz and Nuggets have had their fair share of absolute battles over the years, including a crazy playoff series last year in the bubble. Any time these teams play, it’s good TV.

This game started off hot from the very start, with both teams hitting shots like crazy in the first quarter. The Nuggets hit 10 of their first 12 shots, and Jazz fans everywhere had to have been thinking they’d seen this one before. The Jazz matched the Nuggets offensive intensity however, and ended the quarter down just 1 point in an absolute barn-burner 41-40.

Speaking of burning, that’s what Bojan Bogdanovic was doing tonight, to ENTIRE VILLAGES. Bogdanovic came into tonight with a previous career high of 44 from years ago in Brooklyn. Bogey has been playing on a different level for the last 12+ games, and he decided to elevate that even further tonight. He dropped 25 in the first half, and you could tell he was just absolutely locked in. He didn’t slow down at all, dropping 23 in the second half to a new career-high of 48 points. Denver stuck with the Jazz as long as they could tonight, but in the end Bogdanovic and Clarkson were just too powerful, and the Jazz got a great home win in front of an electric Vivint Arena crowd.

Bogdanovic absolutely gets all the credit for this big win, but the Jazz had some awesome contributions from other rotation players that need to be recognized. Georges Niang, who has honestly been so solid for the Jazz pretty much all season, came through in the clutch tonight hitting some huge shots and some key moments. George’s energy is awesome.

Trent Forrest, who has been playing some great minutes lately with all of the injuries, came in and also played really solid. 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 CRAZY chase-down block in just 16 minutes is some good stuff.

Overall, this was just an awesome game, with great moments. One of my favorite clips from tonight was when Jokic challenged Rudy in crunch time, and Gobzilla prevailed.

Hearing the crowd changing Bogey’s name in the exit interview was amazing as well. Just too many great moments from tonight’s game, one of the best ones of the year.