When the Denver Nuggets took on the Utah Jazz, who were playing with a depleted roster, Michael Malone could relax about their superstar centre and the possibility of a disappointment.

Jamal Murray scored 37 points and Nikola Jokic played with a bruised right arm that prevented him from participating in shootaround as the Nuggets crushed the Jazz 142-121 on Saturday night.

For Denver, Jokic scored 26 points while also grabbing 6 boards and dishing out 8 assists. Michael Porter Jr. chipped in with 19 points.

Despite a disappointing third quarter, the Nuggets were able to hold on to a 39-point lead at halftime.

The third quarter had an equal amount of scoring by the Jazz as the first.

Despite outscoring Denver 44-24 in the third quarter, the Jazz still couldn’t get within 14 points, even when playing against Denver’s bench players for the majority of the fourth quarter. They were behind 78-44 at halftime.

With 29 points, Keyonte George led Utah as the Jazz surged in the third quarter, making a comeback seem plausible and leaving the sellout crowd anxious about a possible historic collapse.

Just before halftime, the Nuggets hit 14 out of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. The Nuggets improved their record to 8-1 since the All-Star break after a 20-point third-quarter deficit. They adjusted their strategy at halftime and performed better on defence and offence in the fourth quarter.

Denver moved within half a game of Oklahoma City, the current West leader, thanks to the victory. The Cowboys were off Saturday night.

Malone was concerned that his Nuggets team would suffer an emotional letdown following Thursday night’s 115-109 victory over the Boston Celtics, which gave them a season sweep of the Eastern Conference leaders.

Hours before the game began, Malone stated, “Getting up for the best team in the NBA is easy.”. “Boston is a very attractive game.”

This one is different.

“Things are different tonight. Malone warned that the squad they were playing against was five and a half games out of the playoffs and missing All-Star Lauri Markkanen due to a bruised right thigh. Our athletes are likely unaware of a lot of the people they’re up against; for example, they have no idea who Brice Sensabaugh is.

For his part, Malone has promised to keep stressing that the reigning NBA champions’ success is due to the fact that “we have not cared who we’re playing; we’ve cared about playing up to our standards.”