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Utah Jazz run away from Denver Nuggets in 106-77 victory

Derrick Favors anchors effort on both sides, finishing with 24 points and three blocks.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) gets low as he runs low as he holds out three fingers after nailing a three-pointer late in the fourth quarter during the Utah Jazz versus Denver Nuggets NBA basketball game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City Tuesday November 28, 2017.

No Rudy Gobert? No problem — the Utah Jazz still dominated the Denver Nuggets in the paint.

No Rodney Hood? No problem — the Jazz still made 44 percent of their 3-pointers.

It might not seem to make sense, but somehow the Jazz (10-11) found a way to keep an edge against the struggling Nuggets on Tuesday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena, pounding them in a 106-77 blowout for their second win in two meetings this season.

Even without several key players from the teams’ first meeting in the season opener, the Jazz took a similar route to victory. Without their top rim-protector and their leading scorer, they blew Denver off the court in a runaway second half — a 30-point advantage in the end.

Derrick Favors played the leading man of the game, rocking his way to 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a matchup with heralded Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic. While Jokic put up a humble stat line of seven points, six rebounds and six assists, Favors continually whipped the Serb in the post on pick-and-roll looks, shooting 12 for 16 from the floor.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives past the Denver defense during the Utah Jazz versus Denver Nuggets NBA basketball game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City Tuesday November 28, 2017.

(Steve Griffin | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives past the Denver defense during the Utah Jazz versus Denver Nuggets NBA basketball game at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City Tuesday November 28, 2017.

He also had three blocks.

“The box score says it with Fav, but I think he was better than the box score,” coach Quin Snyder said. “He’s different than Rudy, but he was also so effective protecting the rim today because he was just playing vertically.”

The Jazz were also aided by another floor-stretching start by Jonas Jerebko, who had 15 points, including three 3-pointers. He and Ricky Rubio (13 points) helped carry Utah through a rocky stretch in the first half, when the Nuggets led by as much as seven points.

The switch flipped on to start the second half, when Utah went on an 18-6 run after being down by one point at the intermission. After scoring only 17 points in the third quarter, the Nuggets offense bogged down even more for 11 points in the fourth.

All told, Utah held Denver to 36 percent shooting and the Nuggets had 17 turnovers. With 77 points, the Nuggets were held to a season low. The effort prompted coach Mike Malone to call it an “awful, embarrassing night for the Denver Nuggets.”

Utah captured its third straight win ahead of a trip to visit the injury-plagued Clippers, needing only one more victory to return to a .500 record.

While former Jazz lottery pick Trey Lyles played garbage minutes in the season opener, Tuesday provided his first meaningful opportunity to play against his former team. It probably wasn’t what he hoped: He played 18 minutes off the bench, finishing with six points on 2-of-6 shooting.

In one sequence, memorable to Jazz fans if not to Lyles, 33-year-old Thabo Sefolosha knocked the ball from his hands and managed to dunk over him on the fast break.

The player Utah got back in dealing Lyles, Donovan Mitchell, had a relatively quiet start himself. Checking out in the first quarter after attempting only one shot, Mitchell made some sparks in the second quarter with six — including a windmill dunk after a foul that didn’t end up counting but pleased the Vivint crowd all the same.

But in the fourth quarter, Mitchell got it going: He scored 10 points in the last period, including a 3-pointer with 6:11 left that capped an 18-4 Jazz run.

The Nuggets soon subbed out their starters, slinking away with a loss. And Utah kept up in what’s become a rugged Western Conference race with a win over a division rival. The Jazz have now beaten four of their last five opponents by double digits — all without Gobert.

“We’re moving the ball better, we’re looking for the extra pass, and we’re getting better as a team,” Rubio said. “As the season goes on, that’s the way we want to play as a team.”