Tip-off: Saturday, 9:00 p.m. ET
Line: NA, Total: NA

Salt Lake City plays host to a Northwest Division battle between the Nuggets and Jazz on Saturday night.

The Nuggets are in Utah Saturday on the second end of a back-to-back after taking on the Rockets Friday night in Denver. Prior to that game, they last played Wednesday night and lost 106-98 at home to the Heat (MIA +6.5), a game that set their record at 7-11 for the season (11-7 ATS). The Nuggets were led in scoring by 17 points apiece from PG Jameer Nelson, SF Wilson Chandler and PF Nikola Jokic. Both Chandler and Jokic came off the bench, and Jokic had a team-high 14 rebounds. Denver was ultimately undone by committing 19 turnovers and forcing only six from the Heat. They face a Jazz team on Saturday that lost to the Heat the night after they did, 111-110 (MIA +6.5). The loss sank the Jazz to 11-9 (10-10 ATS). The Heat took equally as good care of the ball against Utah, committing only six turnovers again, while the Jazz coughed up 11. SF Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 32 points, while PF Trey Lyles and SF Joe Ingles combined for 29 total points off the bench. C Rudy Gobert posted game highs with 10 rebounds and three blocks. Jazz PG George Hill sat against the Heat with a sprained toe and it remains to be seen if he will play Saturday night.

The Nuggets are led in scoring by two small forwards, Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. Typically, Gallinari starts and Chandler comes off the bench. Gallinari recently missed three straight games with a thigh injury, but returned to play 36 minutes against the Heat to score 17 points, albeit on only 6 of 16 shooting. He’s been a consistent scorer for the Nuggets but not an explosive one, scoring in double digits in every game he has played in, but never more than 21 to this point. Chandler, on the other hand, had three games of 25 or more points after scoring 25 against Phoenix last Sunday. SG Will Barton, who was second on the team in scoring a year ago despite only starting one game, has struggled with injuries this year and will have played seven total games after returning against the Rockets on Friday night. He played the first three games of the year before getting injured, then returned for a brief three-game stint in mid-November, only to shoot a combined 6 of 28 from the floor. PG Emmanuel Mudiay is the team’s third-leading scorer but is still struggling to find his way as an effective point guard. SG Jamal Murray was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November. He scored 18 points in four of the last six games the team played in November.

The Jazz offense has been completely transformed this season by the offseason arrival of Hill from the Pacers. Unfortunately, he has only played in 11 games, but the difference he made in those games was obvious. The Jazz had not had a reliable point guard to run the team since Deron Williams left years ago, but Hill—if he can stay on the floor—appears to be the answer. In the small sample size of the games he has played in, Hill is averaging 20.0 points per game, far up from his career average of 11.5 PPG. Hayward has also missed, but has been the go-to scorer the team needs him to be when he’s been on the floor, which has been every game since he missed the first six to start the season. He has now had five straight games where he has scored at least 22 points, and back-to-back outings where he scored over 30, his first such outings all season. At center, Gobert is among the league’s very top leaders in blocks and rebounds. He’s a game-changing force on defense not unlike the Heat’s Hassan Whiteside, but he’s a more steady player and one that can make an impact on offense: After Thursday night’s games, he was the league leader in shooting percentage.