Nikola Jokic scored 18 of his 27 points in the third quarter and the host Denver Nuggets defeated the Utah Jazz 129-103 on Saturday night to earn their first home win of the season.

Jokic added 16 rebounds and nine assists, falling just short of a triple-double for the second straight year. On Friday night in Minnesota he missed the target by just one rebound.

The Jazz remain the only winless team in the NBA.

Michael Porter Jr. scored 20 points, Julian Strawther scored a season-high 19 points, Christian Braun scored 17 and Aaron Gordon had 12 points for the Nuggets.

Both teams played without key players. Utah was missing Lauri Markkanen (back) and Jordan Clarkson (heel), and freshmen Cody Williams and Kyle Filipowski were in the starting lineup.

Denver guard Jamal Murray is suffering from a concussion after taking a hit to the head in the Nuggets' loss on Friday, and Russell Westbrook started in place of Murray for the first time this season.

The Jazz had six players score in double figures, led by Walker Kessler with 18 points. Johnny Juzang had 17 points, Keyonte George scored 16 points, John Collins contributed 15 points and Collin Sexton and Brice Sensabaugh finished with 10 points each.

The Nuggets, who led most of the game, took a 17-point lead on Strawther's 3-pointer with 1:04 left in the first quarter. Utah cut the deficit to 11 early in the second half and then used a 16-3 run to tie the score at 42 with 7:45 left in the half.

Denver scored 14 straight points to take a 65-56 halftime lead.

The Nuggets began to pull away in the third period. Braun scored eight points in the quarter and Jokic took over the offense. He hit a hook shot, a 14-foot jumper and three three-pointers to give them a 24-point lead heading into the fourth period.

Jokic was 3-for-4 from behind the arc in the quarter, giving Denver a 99-75 lead with one quarter left.

–Field level media