The Utah Jazz’s tanking effort gets a gift on Monday night, when Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets travel to Salt Lake City to take on the Jazz.
The Nuggets are in the midst of the chaos that is the Western Conference’s Nos. 3-7-seed range, with only 3.5 games separating the No. 3 Rockets from the No. 7 Suns. Denver sits right in the middle at No. 5, and just lost a crucial game against No. 4 Minnesota on Sunday. The Nuggets’ game against Utah will be on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Jazz
are coming off back-to back home losses against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans, which did wonders for Utah’s lottery chances. The Jazz now have the fifth worst record in the league, and are a near-lock (99.4%) to keep this year’s first-round pick.
Injury Report
Utah Jazz:
Lauri Markkanen — OUT (right hip impingement)
Kevin Love — Out (rest)
Jusuf Nurkic — OUT
Vince Williams Jr. — OUT
Jaren Jackson Jr. — OUT
Walker Kessler — OUT
Denver Nuggets
Aaron Gordon — OUT (right hamstring strain)
Cam Johnson — OUT (right ankle inflammation)
Peyton Watson — OUT (right hamstring strain)
Spencer Jones — OUT (right shoulder strain)
Tamar Bates — OUT (left foot surgery)
How to watch
Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
When: 7 p.m. MT
Channel: KJZZ, SEG+
Radio: 97.5 FM 1280 AM
