Jazz are victorious in home finale against the Nuggets

The Utah Jazz were victorious against the Denver Nuggets Saturday afternoon in what was an exciting home finale. For Jazz fans that have wished for and embraced “the tank” this year, the bad news is that the hope of moving any higher than the 9th pick is dead. Still, it is always good when the season is winding down and Utah goes out on a high note. Saturday’s game was one of the few matinee’s of the season for the Jazz and it was an entertaining game to watch. Utah got a big game from Ochai Agbaji and newly signed Luka Samanic. Kris Dunn continues to impress by dishing out 14 assists today and giving hope for next season.

Denver is really good and the scary thing is that they have kind of flown under the radar all season long. Almost all five starters scored in double figures against the Jazz but Nikola Jokic registered the rare game scoring only 6 points. We know Denver is elite offensively but one of the things that has been so impressive this season and in this game is the ability to make other teams turn it over and then to capitalize on those turnovers. One thing that popped out about today’s game was 22 points off of turnovers for the Nuggets. Denver will close out the season tomorrow by hosting the also playoff bound Sacramento Kings.

It was such an up and down game for Utah, who played none of their regular starters. After the Jazz started the game 15-2 and built as much as a 17 point lead in the first quarter, Denver closed the gap with some lights out 3 point shooting in the second to pull within three by halftime. Utah built up a little bit of a cushion again in the third quarter but by the end of the third Denver had overtaken them with seemingly every shot going in. The fourth quarter was a crunch time battle which the Jazz have been pretty good at winning this season and today turned out to be no different. The Jazz ended the game on a 16-8 run in the last five minutes.

Even though the Jazz had already been eliminated from the playoffs before this game started, I am proud that this team fought hard every night in front of their fans all season long. Today was no different. The bright side to this season is that several players young clearly have developed into rotation players that we can use to build for next season. Whatever the outcome of the final game tomorrow at the Los Angeles Lakers, the Jazz can hold their heads high knowing that they far exceeded expectations for this year and did a good a job of entertaining the fans along the way, GO JAZZ!!