Nuggets thrash Jazz, retain share of West lead

Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic each scored 28 points as the Denver Nuggets kept pace in their pursuit for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with a 111-95 win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.

Denver (55-24) remained deadlocked with Minnesota (55-24) for the West's top record after the Timberwolves won earlier Tuesday against the Washington Wizards. Denver and Minnesota also maintained a one-game advantage over the Oklahoma City Thunder (54-25), who beat the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.

Jokic added 13 rebounds and seven assists, both game-high totals.

The Nuggets never trailed at Utah, but had their lead, once 19 points, trimmed to seven points midway through the fourth quarter.

Murray responded, hitting three straight 3-pointers over a stretch lasting 1:09. The burst ignited a 13-2 run, capped when Jokic scored the final four of his points.

Jokic and Murray shot a combined 23-for-40 from the floor, accounting for half of Denver's made field goals on a 46-of-94 night (48.9 percent).

Michael Porter Jr. contributed 12 points for Denver, and Christian Braun scored nine of his 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. Peyton Watson came off the bench to log nine rebounds and four assists to go with his five points.

Utah (29-50) got double-doubles from both Omer Yurtseven, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Luka Samanic, who posted 15 points and 11 rebounds. Samanic scored six straight Jazz points over a fourth-quarter stretch when Utah was still in striking distance, but it was not enough.

Talen Horton-Tucker came off the bench to lead the Jazz with 24 points, shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Brice Sensabaugh and Keyonte George each scored 10 points in the defeat, which was Utah's 13th straight.

The losing streak is the third longest in franchise history behind skids of 18 games in in 1981-82 and 14 games in 1979-80.