Nothing easy about Denver's recent schedule, which has offered serious playoff contenders like the Celtics, Thunder, and T-wolves in a row thru the Weekend. FInally, however, the Nuggets might catch a break tonight in Salt Lake City. Denver is not far past running up 157 points at Portland and no new injury news tonight other than the ongoing absence of Peyton Watson. There is also a chance that Aaron Gordon returns to active duty Monday night after missing the past five weeks with a hamstring strain. As for Jazz, they're already planning for next season and haven't won since the All-Star break, inlcuding consecutive double-digit loss to the Pelicans in front of tonight. Play Nuggets

Nikola Jokic produced 57 combined points, rebounds and assists in a loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday. Not only is this the second game of a back-to-back set, but it is the third game in four nights for the Nuggets. They will have traveled from Oklahoma City to Denver to Utah during that span. The Nuggets shouldn’t need Jokic to play heavy minutes to beat a Jazz team that has been blown out on a regular basis. The last time he faced the Jazz, he had 40 combined points, rebounds and assists while playing 29 minutes in a 23-point win for the Nuggets. This feels like playing with fire, but I could see Jokic logging limited minutes again, so I’ll take the under.