By james art 
The Denver Nuggets return to the friendly confines of Ball Arena to host the Utah Jazz, but their mindset isn’t what it could be, the Nuggets have won two of three on the road, but lost by double digits late to Minnesota once again turns what would normally be considered a successful trip into a disappointing one. Combined with Jamal Murray in concussion protocol, the Nuggets have little time to shake off last night’s loss against the Timberwolves and refocus on defending their home court against winless Utah. The 0-5 Jazz lost by 18 to the San Antonio Spurs on Halloween and have more rest than Denver, but that’s pretty much the only category in which they’re rated higher. They are the worst offense in the league, as well as missing several key pieces and in an advantageous position for the Cooper Flagg draft lottery. Denver needs to get right against their division rival in the worst way possible – this is not the time to let the Jazz get their first win of the season.
The most important thing
WHO: Denver Nuggets (2-3) vs. Utah Jazz (0-5)
When: 20:00 MDT
where: Ball Arena, Denver Colorado
How to watch/listen: You know where. KTVD Channel 20, Altitude TV (one of Fubo or Altitude+), Altitude Radio 92.5, NBA League Pass for those not in the Denver market, bring some sage and say you were hired to smear the court and get rid of the early bad mojo season
Injury Report: Aaron Gordon – PROBABLE (Bruised right knee), Jamal Murray – DOUBTFUL (Concussion Protocol), Da’Ron Holmes – OUT (Achilles), Vlatko Chanchar – OUT (Sprained right ankle); Isaiah Collier – OUT (right hamstring strain), Taylor Hendricks – OUT (fractured right fibula), Lauri Markkanen – OUT (lower back spasms), Jordan Clarkson – OUT (plantar fasciitis)
(The two) things
The thing to watch out for: Who plays point guard
Julius Randle collided with Jamal Murray on a play that left Murray holding his face as he returned to the locker room and was later ruled out for concussion protocol. This protocol means he was tested for a concussion, but we don’t know if he was diagnosed with one. If he was, he would miss today’s game – players are not allowed to return to training or play within 24 hours of their injury – and potentially more. If not, he still has to pass another set of tests before he’s allowed to play tonight, so his status is still up in the air at this point.
If he can’t play — and as of this writing, I’m guessing he won’t — then that opens up minutes for both Julian Strawder to play some point guard and two-way rookie guard Trey Alexander. Russell Westbrook will likely join the starters, as Malone has often done in previous seasons with backups Bruce Brown and Reggie Jackson when Murray can’t go. Aaron Gordon could play more off the bench to give them another passer and ball-handler, especially given the struggles big backup Dario Saric is going through to start the season. The lineup shuffling starts if Jamal is out, but given the number of games he’s missed even in “healthy” seasons, the Nuggets should have a plan for that. Implementing him so soon will give them a chance to evaluate him and make changes, because it’s been a problem since Denver decided to roll with an ineffective second-year point guard and an inexperienced rookie as options as a third point guard.
The thing to remember: The Nuggets are still figuring things out
Denver’s starters look like they get it. They easily outplayed Minnesota’s starters – until the final minutes, when the lack of consistently effective point guard play reared its head. Denver’s bread and butter in the Jokic era was the 1-5 pick-and-roll, and without Jamal Murray, they had to move on from that. The apparent lack of any effective play, as well as the fact that Jokic was swamped by a team that didn’t fear anyone else on the court, definitely showed that they need other options when they can no longer rely on the Old Reliable .
But defining the roles and placement of players on Denver’s bench is critical to long-term success, and Denver is far from getting it right. The Utah Jazz are a perfect team in theory to handle this. Without Lauri Markkanen, the Jazz have exactly zero scoring threats that Denver needs to focus on and should be able to play standard defense. Keyonte George and Collin Sexton aren’t exactly the Celtics of 2024, and this is a great game to plug those defensive holes, even if they’ll have to fight for rebounds against the Jazz, who really crash the glass hard. The Nuggets working on their rotations and their efforts against each other is not the easiest thing to do, but this is the best team in the league for it.
Of course, Denver’s only two wins of the year were overtime losses that could easily have been against far inferior teams. Playing up to their opponent’s level has been a longtime stumbling block for the Nuggets, and even though Utah is the worst shooting team in the league from both 2-point and 3-point range, the Nuggets need to get their groove back tonight. Julian Strawder needs to find a role to excel in and stop fouling every 2 minutes. Peyton Watson needs to remember how to play defense at a minimum. Russell Westbrook needs to figure out how to help his teammates when he has the rock instead of just playing so fast that no one can adjust on both ends of the court. Can Denver find a big backup to patch the immediate hole? This game against the Jazz isn’t really about the Jazz for Denver, it’s about getting it right. Hopefully, Jamal’s status focuses the team on working on the little things they haven’t done yet this year, and they can have a proper game at home after a stressful road trip.