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The Utah Jazz made five of the 22 3-point shots they attempted on Wednesday night, shot 44 percent from the field, missed six free throws, were outrebounded and had as many turnovers as assists.

And yet, they still defeated the Denver Nuggets 85-81.

With stats like those, Utah's fourth consecutive win may have come as a surprise to the 19,461 in attendance at Vivint Smart Home Arena. But through the longest winning streak of the season, the Jazz have found various ways to overcome adversity.

Against the Nuggets, Utah simply made a few more plays on the offensive end.

"You're not always going to be on every night offensively," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "Denver forced us into things, quite frankly, that we don't see as much. Tonight, we made the shots we needed to down the stretch, and it was a true grind-it-out-win for us."

So how did the Jazz get the victory? They defended as well as they had all season over a 48-minute span. The Nuggets have been one of the highest-scoring teams in the league over the past few weeks, scoring over 100 points in nine consecutive games.

Still, Utah was able to shut them down. The Jazz held Denver to 31 percent shooting from the field, and forced the Nuggets to miss 14 of 18 3-pointers. Hayward was effective defensively on Danilo Gallinari, holding Denver's best player to 5-of-16 shooting from the field, although he scored a game-high 24 points, mostly because he went 12-of-14 from the 3-point line.

Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert dominated defensively on the interior, especially Favors with six blocked shots. Favors also scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. And whenever the Jazz needed a defensive stop, they were able to generate it, especially while trailing for most of the second and third quarters.

"I'm thrilled that we've won four in a row," Utah coach Quin Snyder said. "I want us to stay steady and consistent, because in this league, we could lose the next four. That said, I didn't think we played very well tonight. A lot of that had to do with Denver and how aggressive they were and how well they defended. They did a really good job against us and both teams really competed."

Pace turned out to be a key for Utah, and its ability to keep Denver out of transition. Nuggets coach Michael Malone before the game said he wanted his team to play fast, and the game turned out to be the opposite.

The Jazz' ability to keep the game from turning into a track meet turned out to be a saving grace. Time and again, the Nuggets attempted to push the ball, and the Jazz consistently turned them away. Eventually, a frustrated Denver team began forcing shots, playing into Utah's hands.

"I think we lacked execution," Malone said. "We had five turnovers in the fourth quarter, and they had four offensive rebounds. We weren't able to get timely defensive stops. There's something about Utah. We can't beat them. We're 0-3 against these guys, and they are a good team."

Hayward scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, many of them down the stretch when the Jazz needed them. Gobert scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds, while rookie point guard Raul Neto scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds and handed out four assists.

Utah moves to 23-25 with the win and are tied with the Portland Trail Blazers for eighth place in the Western Conference.

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Storylines

R Derrick Favors records his ninth double-double of the season and adds six blocked shots as the Jazz win their fourth game in a row.

• Rudy Gobert scores in double figures for the seventh time in eight games.