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Denver • In his fourth NBA season, Rudy Gobert is taking to heart a lesson coaches around the world are trying to impart on their players.

"We all hear from our coaches growing up that the guy that sets the screen is the guy that gets open," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "Well no one ever really believes that."

Gobert, however, is coming around.

The Utah Jazz center is leading the NBA in "screen assists" — screens that directly lead to a made bucket by a teammate.

"In the offseason and during training camp, Coach really put an emphasis on my screening," Gobert said. "… I think it's very important for the offense. If I set a screen and my teammate is wide open, I'm happy the same as if I would score."

Coming into Sunday's matchup with the Nuggets, Gobert's teammates were knocking down an average of 5.9 field goals per game immediately after the big 7-footer sets a pick for them. That's tied with Washington's Marcin Gortat for best in the NBA. Toronto's Jonas Valanciunas (5.1), Phoenix's Tyson Chandler (5) and Charlotte's Cody Zeller (4.7) round out the top five.

"I think some of Rudy's frustrations at times on the offensive end come from not feeling like he's impacting the game," Snyder said.

But with the NBA now tracking screen assists, it's been easier to show Gobert the importance of his work.

"Making Rudy understand how important screening is for our offensive success, those are things that are subtle," Snyder said. "They're not giving out awards for that. The fact that we're even keeping the stat now as a league is great."

Starting nod

Even with veteran Boris Diaw available to play Sunday in Denver, it was second-year forward Trey Lyles who got the start at power forward. Lyles was coming off a season-high 21-point game the night before in Houston.

"Trey Lyles did a really nice job of going and attacking the rim," Snyder said. "When you do that usually good things happen and things open up."

It was Lyles' third straight game in double-figures.

"I'm not doing anything different than I was at the beginning of the season," he said. "My shot is just starting to fall a little bit now. So I'm just staying aggressive and doing what I can do inside the team scheme."

Foul play

Gobert was limited to just five minutes on the court in the first quarter Sunday night at Pepsi Center. After being hit with two quick fouls, Gobert's frustrations boiled over, resulting in his first technical foul of the season.

afalk@sltrib.com Twitter: @aaronfalk