Utah aims to close out series against Denver in game 6

Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert (27) celebrates a defensive stop with teammates Royce O'Neale (23), Joe Ingles (2) and Donovan Mitchell (45) during the first half of an NBA basketball first round playoff game against the Denver Nuggets, Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.(AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)

Denver Nuggets (46-27, third in the Western Conference during the regular season) vs. Utah Jazz (44-28, sixth in the Western Conference during the regular season)

Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Thursday, 4 p.m. EDT

LINE: Jazz -2.5; over/under is 219.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Utah leads series 3-2

BOTTOM LINE: The Utah Jazz look to clinch the Western Conference first round over the Denver Nuggets in game six. The Nuggets won the last matchup 117-107. Jamal Murray scored 42 points to lead Denver to the win and Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points in defeat for Utah.

The Jazz are 5-7 against opponents in the Northwest Division. Utah averages 111.3 points and has outscored opponents by 2.5 points per game.

The Nuggets are 29-16 against Western Conference opponents. Denver is fifth in the league with 10.8 offensive rebounds per game led by Nikola Jokic averaging 2.3.

TOP PERFORMERS: Rudy Gobert leads the Jazz with 13.5 rebounds and averages 15.1 points. Mitchell is averaging 25.2 points and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 40.6% over the last 10 games for Utah.

Jokic leads the Nuggets with 9.7 rebounds and averages 19.9 points. Murray is averaging 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists over the last 10 games for Denver.

LAST 10 GAMES: Jazz: 5-5, averaging 120.8 points, 43.7 rebounds, 25.1 assists, six steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.3 points on 48.5% shooting.

Nuggets: 3-7, averaging 116.1 points, 41.9 rebounds, 25.8 assists, 5.3 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 123.1 points on 50.8% shooting.

INJURIES: Jazz: Justin Wright-Foreman: out (not with team), Ed Davis: out (knee).

Nuggets: Vlatko Cancar: out (foot), Will Barton: out (knee), Gary Harris: out (hip).

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.