Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz square off in the fifth game of the postseason round in American Basketball League 2019-20.
Team Preview
In the 7-matches series of the Postseason, Utah Jazz made an absolute comeback after losing the first game 135-125. With three straight wins, Jazz has taken 3-1 lead in the Western Conference playoff series. In the close affair, Denver slipped at the final quarter to give Jazz a final chance in the 5th game to progress into the conference semifinal. Utah Jazz needs just one win from the remaining three games and Denver requires three wins out of three. After losing the two back to back matches, Nuggets were fresh on Sunday and they started with taking first quarter 36-33. Jazz bounced back and took the 2nd quarter 31-29 and 3rd quarter 33-24. Going into the final quarter, Utah led by 8 points and Nuggets paced the final quarter with taking an early advantage in the first five minutes. Nuggets took the 4th quarter 38-32 but they failed to get two more points to avoid a defeat.
Utah Jazz put solid domination as they shot 57.5 percent from the floor including 14 out of 29 from the 3-point range while Nuggets shot 49 percent including 17 out of 44 from the 3-point range. Donovan Mitchell led Utah Jazz with record 51 points plus 4 boards. He becomes the only third player to score more than 50 points in one postseason series after Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson. Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson contributed 26 and 24 points each in the victory. For Nuggets, Jamaal Murray scored a double-double with record 50 points plus 11 boards. Nikola Jokic added 29 points plus 7 boards. It happened for the first time in Playoff history as players from both sides scored 50 points in a game. Jazz comes second in the league among postseason teams in scoring offense with an average of 125.5 points per contest. Nuggets needs a proper defensive plan to stop Mitchell who’s averaging 39 plus points per contest in the postseason.
Starting possible lineups
Denver Nuggets
Jamal Murray (PG), Gary Harris (SG), Jerami Grunt (PF), Paul Millsap (PF), Nikola Jokic (C)
Utah Jazz
Mike Conley (PG), Donovan Mitchell (SG), Joe Ingles (SG), Royce O'Neale (SF), Rudy Gobert (C)
Key Players (Stats from postseason)
Denver Nuggets
Nikola Jokic (C): 25.3 points, 8.3 rebounds
Jamal Murray (PG): 28 points, 6 rebounds
Michael Porter Jr. (SF): 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds
Utah Jazz
Donovan Mitchell (SG): 39.5 points, 4.5 rebounds
Jordan Clarkson (PG): 19.8 points, 3.5 rebounds
Mike Conley (PG): 26.5 points, 4 assists
