Nuggets outlast Jazz 128-125 as Keyonte George, Jamal Murray duel

SALT LAKE CITY — Some players just play better against certain teams, and Jamal Murray seems to have it out against the Utah Jazz.

Murray continues to dominate in matchups against Utah, and posted 45 points and eight assists in the Nuggets' 128-125 win over the Jazz Monday night. Murray got it going early for Denver and kept up his balanced offensive approach throughout the contest.

Keyonte George also put on an offensive clinic for Utah in what looked like a blast from the past.

There were shades of the 2020 NBA playoff matchup between the Jazz and Nuggets when Murray and Donovan Mitchell traded plenty of buckets in one of the more exciting playoff series in recent memory.

Monday's meeting between the same teams felt like a playoff game with the arena atmosphere and its heart-pounding clutch time.

George drained a 3-pointer with 3:17 left in regulation to give the Jazz the 1-point lead, but Murray answered immediately with a fadeaway midrange shot to reclaim the top score.

"Keyonte had a special night offensively, but I think the team did a good job of recognizing how he wanted to attack and they executed that very, very well," Jazz head coach Will Hardy said.

Utah looked like it could squeak out a win after Ace Bailey knocked down his own 3-pointer before a clutch steal by Elijah Harkless led to a George dunk in transition.

Denver capitalized on its trips to the free-throw line throughout the game, but none more than down the stretch in a tight game — most notably, Murray and Nikola Jokic made their shots from the charity strip to help regain the lead for the Nuggets.

Some chaos ensued when Jokic seemingly tackled Kyle Filipowski following one of Murray's made free throws, and Jokic ended up at the free-throw line for one shot. After missing the single free throw, Filipowski grabbed the rebound and Hardy called a timeout.

George drove to the basket down by 1 with under 30 seconds remaining and was fouled by Jokic; however, Denver head coach David Adelman challenged the call. After a review, it was overturned, giving possession to the Nuggets with 16.3 seconds left.

The Jazz waited too long to foul and didn't get one called until 6.1 seconds remained on the clock, where Jokic sank both free throws and George's 3-point attempt to tie the game missed.

"Some unfortunate things down the stretch of the game, but I think, overall, the competitiveness and the thought process that our team went through down the stretch was really good," Hardy said.

Down several players, the Jazz still managed to hold Jokic in check in what is often an impossible task; Jokic finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

"It was just a great overall job by us and matching their physicality, just trying to be aggressive on both sides of the court," Filipowski said. "Playing them, it's gonna be a battle, whoever's going against them."

With the Jazz lacking size in the front court, Hardy implemented a different approach in order to defend Jokic. A tandem of guards took turns guarding Jokic, with Harkless taking on a bulk of the responsibility.

"I think Elijah is our best defender," Hardy said. "There have been some other teams in the league that have guarded Jokic with smalls. It's about trying to wear him down, make catches tough."

The strategy worked thanks to Harkless and plenty of other undersized defenders' willingness to take on the matchup and switch onto the three-time MVP. Jokic was frustrated at times with the scrappy defensive tactics the Jazz guards were using to prevent him from gaining space.

"I also think that's Elijah's identity," Hardy said. "That's who he is. That's who we need him to be. And I think when Elijah plays like that, it raises the level of the group."

Harkless has seen an uptick in minutes over the past three games; and on Monday night, the UNLV product made his first career NBA start. The numbers on the box score do not jump out, but Harkless made his presence felt on the defensive end all game.

"We had joked about it in the summer. I've seen the Thunder's scheme of Alex Caruso on him and I texted (Hardy) I can guard him, too," Harkless said. "So it was kind of a joke and then it came into reality this morning."

With Jokic being held relatively in check, the Jazz kept up with the Nuggets' pace in the first half and even led at the halftime break after George sank a fadeaway 3-point shot before the buzzer.

George looked smooth for Utah in his second game back after recovering from a sprained ankle. He poured in 36 points for the Jazz and looked like the player he's been this season before the injury.

"It's great to have him back," Filipowski said. "Great to see him back in his element, be Key out there. It was great. I think he played a great game overall."

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