It’s win or go home for both the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday after the latter forced a Game 7 — the first in the bubble, thus far. Will the Nuggets complete a comeback from 3-1 down in the series? Or will the Jazz advance to the second round?
Donovan Mitchell was at it again in Game 6, as he dropped 44 points on 14-of-25 shooting from the field to go with nine 3-pointers, six rebounds five assists, and three steals. But the Jazz still lost, 119-107, as Mitchell didn’t get enough support from his teammates outside of Mike Conley, who had 21 points. Joe Ingles, in particular, has been struggling a lot of late. Over the Jazz’s last three games, Ingles has averaged just 6.0 points on 37.5 percent shooting from the field. There’s also an urgent need for the Jazz to improve their defense, including their rebounding after they got out-rebounded in Game 6, 43-30. Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 11 rebounds in that game, but those were obviously not enough. Right now, the Jazz have to get their scoring going beyond just Mitchell and Conley. Jordan Clarkson is a solid off-the-bench contributor but he went just 5 for 14 for 11 points in Game 6.
The over is 5-0 in the Jazz’s last five games as the road team.
Jamal Murray is simply playing out of his mind right now. For the second time in just two games, Murray dropped 50 points in Game 6 to lead the Nuggets to a Game 7-forcing victory. Murray shot 17 for 24 from the field and sank nine triples. Although it was a one-man show for Denver, other Nuggets players made sure they give Murray a boost, as Jerami Grant scored 18 points and Nikola Jokic coming up with 22 points. Michael Porter Jr. came off the bench again and was cold on offense (1-7 FG), but led the Nuggets with 12 rebounds. It’s a nice sign of maturity for Porter, who found another way to help his team when his shots weren’t falling. It’s now the Nuggets’ turn to shoot well, as they have shot no worse than 50.6 percent in either Game 6 or Game 7. Gary Harris made his first playoff appearance in Game 6, and his defense was felt right away. His defense will be very much needed in Game 7.
The Nuggets are 2-1 against the spread in their last three home games.
