The Nuggets gave up the first four points of the quarter, but Strawther hit a three-pointer to put Denver on the scoreboard and score over 100 points. Jordan made two putbacks, George answered with a three-pointer and Watson had two nice layups as Denver claimed a lead of over 20 points. Jordan had another dunk, Strawther another three-pointer and Hunter Tyson had a great breakaway dunk as Denver's bench finally found a little rhythm. When rookie Trey Alexander entered the game, he was already in garbage time. However, they kept the pace going with exchange throws from Strawther and Zeke Nnaji and Denver took a final victory of 129-103.

Final thoughts

Jokic was a monster. He was +16 in the first half and could have been more, but Westbrook's backup minutes dragged Russ down to just +4 in the half despite starting with Jokic. Nikola did everything for this team tonight, he posted 27 points, 16 rebounds, 9 assists and a steal and was +31 in three quarters which is all he played. He had some amazing passes, ran the court hard all game, made three 3-pointers and kept this game out of reach despite the poor bench performance in the first half that allowed Utah to tie the score again in the second quarter . The struggling Utah Jazz had no answers and shouldn't have – the best player in the world showed his skills tonight and it showed on the scoreboard.

Denver was great in transition. The Nuggets outrebounded the Jazz by 13 and had 28 fast-break points, not counting some second-chance points and longer possessions. That the Nuggets were willing to run the entire game despite playing in back-to-back games was not only a good sign for their conditioning, but also a way to overcome the limitations of the current bench. With these tips and hands in the passing lanes, Denver must generate balls more easily and avoid playing against tight defenses. Some of that came from the starting lineup, but that energy can carry over to the backup minutes as well.

The Jazz aren't a good benchmark for the bench, but it was good for these guys to get minutes. The first bench stint was brutal, but the only starter to play in the fourth quarter was Westbrook, who had to have chemistry with the bench – and the Nuggets won the fourth 30-28. Hunter Tyson got minutes both on the bench and alongside Jokic, but the Jokic minutes seemed to put him on a good path to using his frantic play to look for loose boards and drive through fouls in transition. Julian Strawther also played alongside Jokic and on the bench, and although he picked up five fouls (again), he worked hard on his rhythm to make cuts and shoot threes. Finding their rhythm with the starters seemed to catch on well, and it could help Denver find ways to integrate backup players like Strawther into more of a hybrid role – if he can limit his foul tendencies.

Regardless, by finally playing minutes where they didn't break down, players like Peyton Watson and Zeke Nnaji were able to find some consistency that they can hopefully carry forward as the season progresses. The bench doesn't have to be great – it just has to find a way to not drag down the starters, and it was wonderful to have all of Denver's regular starters sitting firmly on the bench the entire quarter without even a hint of Afraid to give gift for the first time this season.