The Denver Nuggets had a few days off but welcomed in the Memphis Grizzlies to Ball Arena tonight. The Grizzlies came in without their star Ja Morant and it showed. Denver grew the lead early behind another big performance from Nikola Jokic who tallied yet another triple-double. The game got out of hand in the second quarter and the Nuggets never looked back. By the end of the third quarter the game was in full blowout mode and the Nuggets were able to rest most of their rotation players for the fourth quarter. Denver wins this one easily, 142-105.

Desmond Bane opened the game strong, knocking down a pair of threes and hitting jumpers. Denver meanwhile found offense a little tougher to come by. They stuck with the Grizzlies though who held a small lead until Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray made back to back threes to tie the game. The teams went back and forth after that as the quarter progressed. Jokic carried the offense down the stretch while the Grizzlies got a team effort. Joker knocked down a buzzer beating three to give Denver a 33-27 lead after the first quarter.

The Nuggets didn’t have much offense to start the second quarter but their defense was top notch and they increased the lead. They got sloppy with the ball after that though and Memphis started to hit some shots. After a Marcus Smart three the lead was down to five and Michael Malone had to take a timeout. The Nuggets ratcheted up their defense with their starters back in and quickly pushed the lead back to double digits. With Memphis struggling to get shots Denver took advantage and pushed the lead even higher, going on a 15-2 run. The teams traded baskets down the stretch and the half ended with the Nuggets leading 65-48.

Denver started the half on a 10-3 run which grew the lead to above twenty. The Grizzlies were content to let Peyton Watson shoot threes which had mixed results but Memphis wasn’t able to get any closer. The Grizzlies simply didn’t have enough offense to keep pace with the Nuggets and the lead got over thirty just past the halfway point of the quarter. Jokic went to work after that which offset some baskets from Memphis and kept the lead right around thirty. The Grizzlies finally found some rhythm towards the end of the quarter and trimmed the lead a little bit. Jokic fed Christian Braun for a nice transition dunk to get a triple double and get the momentum back for Denver. The bench closed out the quarter trading baskets with the Grizzlies and Denver still held a 106-83 lead after three.

;The Nuggets went with the bench unit to open the fourth quarter and they kept the lead right around twenty-five points. Watson had a nice euro-step layup to get the lead to twenty-seven and the Grizzlies took a timeout. The deep bench units started to check in with the Nuggets still leading by over twenty-five. The Grizzlies couldn’t buy a basket so the lead grew back above thirty. Denver’s reserves were able to continue the good play. Strawther had a big dunk which put the lead up to thirty-eight. The game wrapped up as one might expect with the reserves in, so-so shot selection and questionable defense. Denver takes it going away, 142-105.