Jazz beat Nuggets for 3rd straight win
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Salt Lake City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - Rudy Gobert had a career-high 20 points with 12 rebounds and the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 98-84 on Wednesday night for their third consecutive win.
First-round draft pick Dante Exum dished out a career-high 12 assists for the Nuggets and Derrick Favors scored 19 points.
"We played great," said Gobert. "We just have to stay focused until the end of the game."
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Kenneth Faried had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the well-rested Nuggets, who fell to 0-2 on a three-game road trip that began with a 120-114 loss to Portland on Saturday. Ty Lawson added 15 points and Will Barton scored 13 in the loss.
Jameer Nelson and Barton hit 3-pointers to cap a 10-2 flurry that gave Denver a 29-22 lead after the first quarter.
But the Jazz used a 14-2 run in the second quarter to build a seven-point lead. Trey Burke made consecutive 3s and scored the first eight points in the flurry and Utah later stretched its advantage to 13 before going into halftime with a 54-42 lead.
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Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt blamed himself for his team's lackluster second quarter.
"Our energy changed," he said. "I made some tough substitutions. I think I put some funky lineups in. It probably cost us a little bit of rhythm."
Gordon Hayward scored 12 of his 13 points in the third quarter and the Jazz held Denver under 27 percent shooting to build a 22-point lead entering the fourth. It never dipped below 13 the rest of the way.
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Game Notes
Burke and Joe Ingles each scored 12 for Utah ... Both teams have already been eliminated from playoff contention ... The Jazz earned a 2-2 split in the season series ... Denver finishes its road trip on Friday against San Antonio ... Utah faces Phoenix and Sacramento on the road this weekend.