The Denver Nuggets opened preseason play Saturday night with a 109-97 loss to the Utah Jazz, but the scoreboard was almost beside the point. What mattered was seeing Denver’s starters back on the floor, healthy and active, and getting an early look at a bench group trying to sort out roles and build some cohesion.
Julian Strawther led the Nuggets with 14 points. Aaron Gordon added 12.
Nikola Jokic finished with a team-high seven assists and just one official shot attempt, while Tyus Jones had six assists with Jamal Murray sidelined for personal reasons. After one preseason game, there wasn’t much reason to draw sweeping conclusions - just enough reason to be glad basketball was back.
Denver opened by running plenty through Jokic, who immediately set the tone with a sharp interior pass to Gordon for a traditional three-point play. Christian Braun followed with a transition bucket that showed off his legs, and Jokic kept finding teammates early. Gordon finished a reverse layup off a Jokic baseline feed, Braun got loose-ball work that led to free throws, and Cam Johnson knocked down a 3 off a Tyus Jones assist.
Utah answered through Keyonte George, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Lauri Markkanen, with the Jazz steadily stacking baskets as the quarter wore on. Jokic found Braun for a layup, George hit a jumper, and Johnson buried another Jokic-assisted 3, but Utah kept coming. DeMar DeRozan entered with five minutes gone, and by the end of the first quarter the Jazz had built a 36-26 lead.
The second quarter started unevenly before DeRozan finished through contact and added the free throw. Tyus Jones drilled a three, Isaiah Collier answered, and Zeke Nnaji’s free throws trimmed the gap to 39-35 as Denver’s starters filtered back in. Then Jokic delivered one of the night’s best plays, a full-court strike to Braun for a dunk through contact that made it 41-39.
Utah responded with free throws and a three after a Jokic turnover, and Denver had a few rough possessions mixed in with the good. Gordon missed a heavy dunk attempt, though he cleaned up a miss on the other end for a dunk.
Cam Johnson added a jumper and then blocked Markkanen, which sparked a Gordon corner 3. Jones later hit another three off Jokic’s seventh assist, but Jokic didn’t take his first official shot of the half until the final minute, when he converted it.
Even so, Denver went into halftime trailing 63-52.
With the starters sitting the second half, Denver opened the third with Tyus Jones, Strawther, Cam Whitmore, Trevon Brazile and Marvin Bagley. Bagley came out aggressive, hammering a dunk that forced an immediate Utah timeout. Whitmore knocked down his first 3 as a Nugget, Brazile finished in transition, and Whitmore added another triple after George scored at the rim on the other end.
Strawther stayed active and kept firing. He hit a corner three at the buzzer to pull Denver within 71-64, later recovered his own miss for a putback, and then buried another 3 as the Nuggets kept hanging around.
Brazile blocked Ace Bailey, Bagley worked the paint, and Denver briefly had some momentum. Utah still answered with a 10-3 run, though, and the Jazz carried an 88-77 lead into the fourth.
The final period was more about effort than comeback. Alpha Diallo forced a backcourt violation to start the quarter, Bryce Hopkins picked off a steal and drew free throws, and Denver’s offense had trouble getting much of anything going.
Still, Holmes brought energy with a runout dunk, then later teamed with Brazile on a defensive sequence that led to another Holmes transition dunk. Holmes also blocked Bamba, Nembhard hit a transition 3, and the Nuggets kept playing hard even as the deficit stayed out of reach.
Utah closed it out 109-97, but the night was really about the first look at Denver’s group back together.
The starters gave the Nuggets plenty to like. Jokic’s passing was the headliner, Cam Johnson was willing to let it fly when the ball came to him, and Gordon and Braun both flashed the kind of athletic finishes that suggested their legs are underneath them. Jones fit in cleanly without Murray, and Denver spent the night working through its rhythm in what looked a lot like a controlled preseason tune-up.
The bench picture, meanwhile, is clearly still taking shape. Brazile was the first forward off the bench, which doesn’t figure to hold in the regular season, but he made the most of the opportunity with open looks, hard running, rim pressure and length on defense.
Strawther’s 13 shots in 20 minutes told the story of a player who understands his assignment: score. Lonnie Walker IV only saw garbage-time minutes, which also may not be the long-term plan.
And Diallo gave Denver some useful on-ball pressure in the second half.
There will be more mix-and-match basketball ahead as the Nuggets keep sorting out the right combinations behind the starters. For now, the important part is simpler than the final score: Nuggets basketball is back.
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