Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic predictably efficient in Nuggets’ win over Jazz

Shortly before the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets tipped off on Monday night at Ball Arena, Jazz head coach Will Hardy had a lot of praise for how Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Nuggets’ supporting cast plays clean and efficient offense.

“Their offense is so clean and clear on what everyone’s roles are,” Hardy said of the Nuggets. “Jokic and Murray really set the stage for everybody ... They are also an elite cutting team. You can’t get that level of efficiency without the shot profile that is analytically friendly ... They do a great job of cutting and putting pressure on the rim. And those sorts of in-between shots that are necessary in a game, their two best players shoot the majority of those and they are really efficient players.”

And then the Nuggets seemingly set out to prove just how right Hardy was.

Denver made easy work of leaping out to a 19-0 start in the first five minutes and then pushed their first-quarter lead to 28 points. The Jazz cut the Nuggets’ lead to 17 in the fourth quarter, but were never able to even get close to crawling out of the hole that was dug in the opening minutes.

And speaking of the efficiency of the Nuggets, they shot 52.2% from 3-point range and 50.5% overall. Jokic finished with a calm triple-double of 14 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists through just three quarters, while Murray went 6-of-12 from beyond the arc and scored 27 points on just 16 shots.

It was Jokic’s league-leading 14th triple-double of the season.

The Nuggets also had five other players score in double figures (Peyton Watson, Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown and Jonas Valanciunas), turned the ball over just 11 times, got 51 points from the bench and scored 37 points on fast breaks alone.

But it didn’t so much matter how well the Nuggets played throughout the course of the game — eventually winning 135-112 with all of their starters watching from the bench in the fourth quarter — as the night was over after the first five minutes.

“There’s a responsibility as a starter, and it comes with a territory of, like, you got to be ready to go,” Hardy said. “I’m never going to be the coach that yells, ‘make a shot!’ But it’s part of the business — you’ve got to stand and deliver. The things that we can control are the personnel recognition and the transition defense."

The Jazz fell to 10-18 on the season and have a quick turnaround after the loss in Denver. The team will be back at home at the Delta Center against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night for their final pre-Christmas game.