Western Conference Recaps, April 8: Nikola Jokic Struggled As The Utah Jazz Defeated The Denver Nuggets

Ochai Agbaji scored 28 points in the Utah Jazz’s victory against the Denver Nuggets

The Utah Jazz snapped out of a five-game home losing streak.

Rookie Ochai Agbaji scored 28 points to help the Jazz secure a 118-114 victory against the Denver Nuggets. Luka Samanic had 28 points while Kris Dunn recorded 19 points and a season-high 14 assists.

“We did a good job tonight making Denver play a type of game they don’t want to play,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “We wanted them to play over the top of us if they were going to beat us.”

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Nuggets with 21 points and Jamal Murray had 20. Nikola Jokic scored just six points but recorded 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

OTHER NOTES:

-The Minnesota Timberwolves have locked themselves into the play-in tournament. Led by Anthony Edwards 33 points, the Timberwolves grabbed a 151-131 victory against the San Antonio Spurs. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 points while Rudy Gobert had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Rookie Julian Champagnie recorded 24 points for the Spurs and Keita Bates-Diop had 22.

-The Los Angeles Clippers’ 136-125 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers locked them into the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference. Kawhi Leonard led the way with 27 points and Russell Westbrook had 20. Kevin Knox led the Trail Blazers with a season-high 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.