Clippers annihilate Jazz as James Harden puts on a show

The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Utah Jazz, 144-107, at the Intuit Dome, in a night in which the star James Harden showed his top form with an authentic performance, mainly in the first quarter of the game.

From the start of the game, the Clippers came out much more active than the Jazz, the second worst team in the Western Conference this season, something that was reflected at the end of the first 12 minutes, when Los Angeles was already leading by 24 points.

They extended this lead in the second quarter, adding 10 more points than their rival on the scoreboard and pushing the margin to 34 points before the break. In the last two quarters, the Clippers let up, with victory all but assured, though they still scored more points than their opponents in each of those two periods.

The Clippers' starting five gave a master class on the court. However, the star of the game was Harden, who finished the game with 41 points, 24 of them scored in the first 12 minutes.

Norman Powell, with 29 points, and Ivica Zubac, with 19 points and 12 rebounds, acted as Harden's perfect supporting cast. On the Jazz side, Jordan Clarkson had 20 points and Lauri Markkanen scored 17.

Murray gives the Nuggets the victory in crunch time

With eight seconds left in the game, Jamal Murray was the hero to give the Denver Nuggets a 130-129 victory over the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif.

That shot by the point guard, who finished the game with 28 points, overshadowed the 10th triple-double achieved by Nikola Jokic this season. The Nuggets star scored 20 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out 13 assists against the Kings, who had a great performance from their big three: Domantas Sabonis )28 points and 14 rebounds), Malik Monk (25 points and 10 assists) and De'Aaron Fox (29 points).

Life goes on in Ohio

New victory for Cleveland Cavaliers, this time against Brooklyn Nets (130 -101) at the Barclays Center in New York, in a game in which the locals could do nothing against the best team of the season so far.

Seven Cavaliers players surpassed 10 points, highlighting the 21 points scored by Evan Mobley and the 18 points from Donovan Mitchell.