NBA Game Summary - Utah at Denver

Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Ty Lawson had 18 points and nine assists and the Denver Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 107-91 on Friday.

Jameer Nelson added 18 points and Will Barton had 12 and 10 rebounds, both in reserve roles, to help the Nuggets take a 2-1 lead in the season series.

"Everyone played hard and did the little things," Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried said.

The two teams will meet for a fourth time on April 1 in Utah.

The Jazz welcomed Gordon Hayward (shoulder) back to the lineup but dropped their fourth straight game despite 24 points and seven rebounds from their star swingman. Rudy Gobert added 14 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.

"We didn't play the right way tonight," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.

Denver scored the game's first six points and never trailed, but a 6-0 Utah run late in the first made it 20-20. Nelson beat the buzzer with a 13-footer, jumpstarting a 15-1 run that stretched more than 4 1/2 minutes into the second.

Nelson hit a pair of 3-pointers during the flurry, which Jusuf Nurkic capped with his free throw at 7:42.

It was a quarter of runs. Trailing by 14, Utah responded by netting the game's next 10 points, forcing a pair of Nuggets timeouts in the process. But Denver answered with 10 straight at the other end and took a 52-39 lead into halftime.

The Jazz cut it to single digits midway through the fourth, with Hayward's jumper making is 59-52, but Lawson and Wilson Chandler scored at the other end around a Randy Foye triple to put Denver back in the driver's seat.