The first post-season game between Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets was a home run. When the last 3 seconds remained in the match, center player Nikola Jokic received a pass from guard Jamal Murray which he failed to convert by, maybe, a centimeter. Rudy Gobert could successfully hinder his angle and the game went into the overtime.
The overtime totally belonged to the Denver Nuggets as they took an initial 8 points lead and ended up winning 135-125. Jamal Murray proved to be an amazing clutch player in the match, scoring 20 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter/OT. The entire match was one great spectacle.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Utah Jazz vs Denver Nuggets injury updates
For the Denver Nuggets, shooting guard Gary Harris will be out because of a sore hip. This way, they lost a scoring option. Also, they will miss Will Barton because of his sore knee. The man could only play in a scrimmage game and then got out indefinitely. His season average of 15.5 points proves that his services would be a plus.
Will Barton told me and Jameer about his health heading into the Nuggets playoff series vs Utah Jazz
FULL EPISODE https://t.co/xOYDqOtvHg pic.twitter.com/ByxaQvTpT4
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) August 17, 2020
For the Utah Jazz, center Ed Davis is out from the entire round 1 series. This adds to the team’s depth concerns. Point guard Justin Wright-Foreman might also miss the second, game as per reports. Lastly, Mike Conley, left for his son’s birth, only returned to the Orlando Bubble on Tuesday. He will remain quarantined for four days before resuming the job.
More depth concerns for Utah: Jazz F Ed Davis will miss the first-round playoff series against Denver with a left knee MCL injury, sources tell ESPN. He's expected to be re-evaluated in a few weeks, per sources.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 16, 2020
Who wins? The game prediction-
Nuggets will probably have Jamal Murray, Torrey Craig, Michael Porter Jr., Paul Millsap, and Nikola Jokic as the starting five. While the Jazz might have Donovan Mitchell, Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale, and Rudy Gobert.
We will get to see a Jamal Murray vs Donovan Mitchell in game 2 again. Donovan is a great passer, a complete offensive player. He scored 57 points in a playoff game and that speaks for his capability. As an underdog, he is a package that can do the work of two players.
Jamal Murray has got great athleticism and his field-goal accuracy of 65%, 3-point accuracy of 66.7% makes him a killer in his own league. The fact that he gets enough support from Nikola Jokic is another addition. But Donovan does not have that kind of support.
So our prediction says that if the Jazz could not win even with Donovan scoring an out-of-the-world 57 points, their chances of winning are only shrinking. So we go with Denver Nuggets 2-0. They will play today (August 19) 4 PM ET, TNT in NBA Playoffs 2020.
