HoopsVibe

(Sports Network) - The Utah Jazz dropped their third straight game on Tuesday with a 96-75 loss to the Denver Nuggets at the Delta Center.

Maurice Williams scored a game-high 20 points for Utah, which played the game without Andrei Kirilenko, who is nursing an ankle injury. However, center Greg Ostertag returned to the lineup after serving his one-game suspension for Saturday's fight with Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Of the 15 players currently on the Jazz roster, nine have missed games due to injuries and illnesses. Paul Grant just joined the team, and three others (Maurice Williams and Sasha Pavlovic and center Jarron Collins) have missed games due to coach's decision.

That leaves reserve guards Raja Bell and Raul Lopez as the only Jazz players to appear in every game.

Utah pulled to 70-57 by the end of the third, but Denver opened the fourth with an 8-0 run on two 3-pointers by Rodney White and a jumper by Earl Boykins and was never threatened the rest of the way.

The loss was the first for the Jazz at the hands of the Nuggets in Utah since December 7, 1995, snapping a 14-game winning streak.

Utah fell for the just the second time in eight tries and for only the fourth time in their last 16 at home and are 17-5 at the Delta Center this season.

The Jazz return to action on Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers.