Nikola Jokic gets hot in third, lifts Nuggets past winless Jazz

Nikola Jokic scored 18 of his 27 points in the third quarter, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 129-103 on Saturday night for their first home win this season.

Jokic added 16 rebounds and nine assists to finish just shy of a triple-double for the second straight night. He was a rebound shy of the mark at Minnesota on Friday night.

The Jazz remain the only winless team in the NBA.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 20 points, Julian Strawther had a season-high 19 points, Christian Braun scored 17, and Aaron Gordon had 12 points for the Nuggets.

Both teams were playing without key players. Utah was missing Lauri Markkanen (back) and Jordan Clarkson (heel) and started rookies Cody Williams and Kyle Filipowski.

Denver guard Jamal Murray is in concussion protocol after taking a blow to his head in the Nuggets' loss Friday, and Russell Westbrook got his first start of the season in place of Murray.

The Jazz had six players score in double figures, led by Walker Kessler's 18 points. Johnny Juzang had 17 points, Keyonte George scored 16 points, John Collins contributed 15 points, and Collin Sexton and Brice Sensabaugh each finished with 10 points each.

The Nuggets, who led most of the way, went ahead by 17 on Strawther's 3-pointer with 1:04 left in the first quarter. Utah cut the deficit to 11 heading into the second and then used a 16-3 run to tie the score at 42 with 7:45 left in the half.

Denver reeled off 14 straight points and settled for a 65-56 halftime lead.

The Nuggets started to pull away in the third. Braun scored eight points in the quarter and Jokic took over offensively. He hit a hook shot, a 14-foot jumper and a trio of 3-pointers to give them a 24-point lead heading into the fourth.

Jokic was 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the period to give Denver a 99-75 lead with a quarter left.

--Field Level Media