The Utah Jazz (3 - 2) defeated the Denver Nuggets (2 - 3) 96 - 84 after a strong fourth quarter on Thursday night. It was a one point game heading into the fourth where the Jazz outscored the Nuggets 31 - 20 to secure the win. The Jazz were led by Gordon Hayward who scored 20 points on 7 - 13 shooting, 2 - 5 from deep and added three assists and three rebounds. Hayward had lots of help as Utah put up 54 bench points. Alec Burks notched 12 points, eight assists and three rebounds, playing 31 minutes off the bench. Also from the bench Trevor Booker had a great 13 points on 6 - 9 shooting, with nine rebounds, three assists and a block in 28 minutes. Trey Burke shot a poor 4 - 12 but managed 12 points, 2 - 5 from deep in 19 minutes. Last but not least, young big man Rudy Gobert snagged 16 big rebounds and had three blocks as he made it difficult in the paint for the Nuggets all night. The Nuggets as a team shot 38 percent from the field and only recorded 16 assists. They played a 10 man rotation which yielded contributions from many players but ultimately lacked the fluidity needed to get consistent good looks. Gallinari has been their most consistent scorer so far and had 18 points and five rebounds, shooting 6 - 12 from the field in the loss. Kenneth Faried was active with 10 rebounds and nine points but could not come up with a big game to bring his team over the hump. Will Barton scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds, while starting point guard and rookie Emmanuel Mudiay scored eight points along with three assists and seven rebounds. Next up for the Nuggets is a trip to Golden State for a game Friday night, where things could get ugly for them. Meanwhile the Jazz will be hosting Memphis on Saturday night, which should be a good gauge for their progress as a young up and coming team in the West.
["TeamStat(G,'Nuggets') has 16 Number of team assists ,has 3 Losses ,has 84 Total points ,has 18 Points in 2nd quarter ,has 20 Points in 4th quarter ,has 2 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Jazz') has 2 Number of team assists ,has 96 Losses ,has 31 Total points ,has 3 Points in 2nd quarter ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Gordon Hayward') has 3 Assists ,has 54 Blocks ,has 20 Field goal percentage ,has 3 Minutes played ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Rudy Gobert') has 3 Assists ,has 16 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Alec Burks') has 8 Assists ,has 31 Blocks ,has 12 Field goal percentage ,has 3 Minutes played ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Trevor Booker') has 3 Assists ,has 1 Blocks ,has 28 Field goal percentage ,has 13 Minutes played ,has 9 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Trey Burke') has 12 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Danilo Gallinari') has 18 Assists ,has 5 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kenneth Faried') has 9 Assists ,has 10 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Emmanuel Mudiay') has 3 Assists ,has 8 Blocks ,has 7 Field goal percentage ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Will Barton') has 12 Assists ,has 4 Blocks ."]