Nuggets play no defense in first half, Murray briefly hurt, tough start in Utah

The Denver Nuggets season has not started off hot, with their debut game going south quickly.

The home Utah Jazz took a 75-53 lead into halftime, catching fire from three with 11 to Denver’s two. The Jazz out-worked the Nuggets, too, grabbing 16 more rebounds.

I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting in game 1 from the Nuggets in Utah but being down 24 in the first half never crossed my mind. The Jazz have played wayyyyy harder than Denver. And good things happen for teams that simply play hard.

— Zach Bye (@byesline) October 20, 2022

Nikola Jokic also picked up three fouls in the first half, ending his first 24 minutes on the season early.

Wow this is a bad start to the season Denver Nuggets. Awful first half

— Brandon Stokley (@bstokley14) October 20, 2022

The Nuggets second unit struggled, and Jamal Murray briefly came out of the game due to an ankle injury. The Blue Arrow, in his first meaningful game back since suffering a torn ACL in April of 2020, went to the locker room but came back out a few minutes later. Murray injured his hamstring in the preseason and didn’t get much exhibition time.

But he did get his first basket and show some flashes while looking rusty at other times.

Jamal's first bucket ❤️

Can take the dog out the fight… BUT YOU AINT EVER GON TAKE THE FIGHT OUT OF THE DOG pic.twitter.com/qHfpvZgJUC

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 20, 2022

Michael Porter Jr. also made his return to NBA action in the game.

Meanwhile Aaron Gordon had some nice dunks and came out with energy.

the reverse 🔄 https://t.co/PFGOjjFaca pic.twitter.com/D2nddXvR19

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 20, 2022

AG has a problem with the rim today 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/2KwZpzLbJP

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 20, 2022

The Nuggets will try to comeback from down by more than 20 on opening night. They’ll head to Golden State on Friday then host OKC for their home opener on Saturday.