by Alma Bean
The Utah Jazz (4-1) goes on a one-game road trip to face the Denver Nuggets (3-2.) This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season as Utah won the previous meeting 123-102.
What to Look For
Denver is coming off an impressive win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. Denver center Nikola Jokic playing with ease, being one assist shy of his third triple-double of the season (31/13/9.) Getting stats like this against players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis continue to impress the NBA. In his previous matchup against Utah, Jokic still managed to score at will but his ability to facilitate and control the boards diminished (27/4/6).
Utah is coming off a close win against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday 109-101. Lauri Markkanen is putting this Utah team on his back with 22 PPG and 8.8 RPG. For Friday night’s game against Denver, he may be called upon more often. Utah will have a lot of questions for their rotations with possibly four players being out. With Utah averaging 23.4 fouls per game, Will Hardy will need to make sure players like Jarred Vanderbilt, are able to cut on unnecessary fouls. This game will also be Udoka Azubuike’s first game this season not on the injury report. Expect him to get some minutes with the lengthy injury list for Utah.
Injury Report
Denver- Davon Reed: Day-to-Day (Personal Reasons), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Questionable (Ankle), Michael Porter Jr.: Questionable (Back), Collin Gillespie: Out (Leg)
Utah- Collin Sexton: Questionable (Oblique), Walker Kessler: Questionable (Illness), Simone Fontecchio: Out (Health & Safety Protocol), Rudy Gay: Out (Health & Safety Protocol)
Where to Watch
Tip-off will between Utah and Denver will be at 7:00 p.m. MT on AT&T SportsNet.
Malik Beasley during matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Oct. 19. Photo by Scott G Winterton of Deseret News